People with complex or life-threatening conditions often need extra support to manage symptoms and make critical decisions about their care and quality of life. To build a continuum of care for people with serious illness, state health policymakers can support palliative care within Medicaid programs. High-quality palliative care can both improve quality of life and avoid unnecessary and often unwanted treatments for Medicaid enrollees with serious illness.
States can support palliative care in a number of ways and across a range of settings (e.g., in hospitals, embedded within enhanced primary care, via home health). Some states may want to develop a specialized community palliative care benefit that can provide comprehensive care and serve as a resource to other practices and service providers. The following steps can help guide the planning process in developing this service. Throughout each step, states can play a leadership role by engaging providers and stakeholders to inform benefit design.
