A bipartisan governors’ group wants to improve care and reduce costs, using value-based payments and Medicaid innovations to make it happen.
Govs. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), John Kasich (R-OH), Bill Walker (I-AK), Tom Wolf (D-PA), and Brian Sandoval (R-NV) issued their solutions in a seven-page blueprint issued late last week.
Proposed approaches include expanding affordable healthcare coverage through private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid; targeted government action when market forces don’t achieve objectives alone; providing state flexibility; and improving the regulatory environment.
The group wants to expand “proven state Medicaid innovations,” and continue the shift to value-based payment and care coordination. Part of the effort would “incorporate social determinants of health into Medicaid,” as well as incentivize providers’ work in improving health and social outcomes.
Implementing the blueprint could save the federal government $1 trillion in the safety-net program alone, Kasich told reporters Feb. 23, as reported by Bloomberg News.
The governors said any overhauls should promote competition in healthcare arenas with money on the line like the nursing home industry.
Though they want federal standards for healthcare quality, the governors also called for regional variations to implementation. For instance, they proposed an exemption from health insurance tax in underserved areas to encourage coverage there.
