As New York seeks $8 billion to continue a redesign of its Medicaid program, the focus shouldn’t be placed solely on the financial request to the federal government, said Cindy Mann, a partner at Manatt Health and a former deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Mann served as the keynote speaker at the Crain’s Health Summit on Thursday morning.
The event explored the uncertain future of the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program for Medicaid redesign. A waiver amendment seeking a continuation of DSRIP for one year, beginning in March, and a three-year renewal from 2021 to 2024 will be submitted to the federal government.
“What the real prize is is not the waiver,” Mann said. “It’s the vision of a transformed health system.”
Continuing the redesign should involve “levers that are consistent with that vision.” Otherwise, the waiver becomes a distraction rather than something that can help the state move forward, Mann said.
Those levers, she said, include addressing social determinants of health, such as food and housing insecurity; supporting workforce development when it comes to community health workers; and providing assistance for financially distressed hospitals. Also important, she said, is a continued focus on the transition to value-based payment—reimbursement tied to the quality of the care provided rather than the volume of services rendered. That includes new payment models for Medicaid beneficiaries with long-term-care and behavioral-health needs.
New York has its own vision for Medicaid redesign, Mann said.
“What I urge all of us to do,” she told industry stakeholders at the forum, “is to always keep that vision firmly in your mind.”