In 2021, the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services articulated goals for the Medicaid program A Strategic Vision for Medicaid And The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Medicaid is the predominant payer of long-term services and supports in the United States and therefore plays a critical role in facilitating access to serious illness care. C-TAC has been gathering feedback from Medicaid leaders across the country to inform key priorities and feedback in response to this vision, including co-hosting an event with the Petrie Flom Center, Emerging Policy Opportunities for Community-Based Serious Illness Care. Taking into account this feedback and input from members, C-TAC has prepared a letter and memo outlining specific concepts and promising practices for CMCS to address in order to improve care for people with serious illnesses.
Key recommendations within the memo include:
- Urging CMCS, in any communications and guidance to the field, to frame serious illness and related programs as a continuum of care that incorporates palliative care, hospice, and other supports as a related set of services that people may need over time rather than siloed programs
- Requesting CMCS to issue specific guidance to the field on serious illness in the form of state health official letters, state Medicaid director letters, or informational bulletins; states use these guidance documents to determine how to design and operationalize Medicaid programs and CMCS has not issued any guidance on serious illness in over 10 years
- Noting that many serious illness planning efforts in states, like the Arizona Coalition to Transform Serious Illness Care, are driving toward technical Medicaid program design and payment models and are currently supported by philanthropy, the private sector, and volunteerism. We urge CMCSto play a direct role in infrastructure, participating in these efforts and providing startup funding for efforts to create new Medicaid programs and payment parameters.
This work is a direct effort to further C-TAC’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025, in that these recommendations seek to expand Medicaid resources for serious illness care (Goal 1, Objective 1.1). C-TAC will continue to further support this work through ongoing direct support to states and local stakeholders.
To support the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) proactive policy agenda outlined in its new strategic vision, we have shared input outlining key activities the federal Medicaid program could directly undertake to address serious illnesses.
Please join us at the C-TAC Summit in October where we will be talking about Medicaid programs and others that help support underserved populations with serious illness.
The C-TAC Summit brings leaders from across the country for a face-to-face gathering to empower, inspire, educate and connect as the mission continues. October 24-25, 2022 in Washington, DC.
