Washington, D.C. – Researchers at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute will conduct a two-year evaluation of the State of Florida’s experimental Medicaid waiver program, which proposes unprecedented changes to existing state and federal guidelines. The changes will be initially implemented in two Florida counties. The research team, led by senior researcher Joan C. Alker and research professor Jack Hoadley, hopes its examination will provide essential feedback on the effectiveness of the pilot program. Jeffrey S. Crowley, a senior research scholar at Georgetown, will also participate in the study, which begins on April 1, 2006.
“Medicaid changes underway in Florida’s counties are being looked to by some as a model for state and national reforms,” Alker said. “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to study these very important changes and provide an assessment of their impact.”
The Georgetown evaluation, made possible by a $325,294 grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, will examine the impact Medicaid changes have on both patients and providers in Florida’s Duval and Broward counties. Florida’s legislature mandated that the reforms be implemented in these two counties before making any decisions to apply the reforms statewide.
Among other factors, the team will look at how the reforms affect the payment structure for care through risk-adjusted premiums; what changes will be made to the Medicaid benefits package; the quantity and quality of plan and provider choices available to beneficiaries; the role of consumer choice and accounts designed to create incentives for healthy behavior; and access to prescription drugs. Primary methodologies will include comprehensive site visits; more than 50 interviews with key stakeholders, focus groups with Medicaid beneficiaries in each county and a detailed review of plan benefits and other materials. A key goal of the project is to listen directly to the local participants – beneficiaries, physicians, hospitals, clinics, and health plans – to learn how the reforms are changing the way care is delivered.
Georgetown’s research team will compare findings with baseline data developed prior to the implementation of Florida’s Medicaid program changes. To-date, the study is the only examination of the pilot program that will be performed independently of the state or federal government.
“We believe it is important to listen carefully on our site visits to how these changes are affecting the program’s beneficiaries and the health care providers who serve them,” Hoadley said. “We intend to be an independent voice in the debate over the future of these reforms.”
The State of Florida’s experimental Medicaid program, approved by the federal government in October 2005, affords HMOs and other plans unprecedented new flexibility in determining adults’ benefits. The new benefits flexibility is not applicable to children, but children will see other changes in their care as a result of moving to the new system.
The Jessie Ball duPont Fund is a national foundation based in Jacksonville, Fla., that provides grants to more than 330 eligible organizations identified by Mrs. DuPont in her will. The fund has awarded $229 million in grants since 1977. For additional information, visit: http://www.dupontfund.org/.
Joan Alker is a senior researcher at the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute. Her work focuses primarily on public coverage for low-income families through Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Additional areas of interest include health coverage for immigrants, the role of employer-sponsored coverage in public programs, and Medicaid managed care. Recent publications include two series of policy briefs on proposed changes to Medicaid programs in Florida and Connecticut, published by the Winter Park Health Foundation and the Connecticut Health Foundation, respectively. National publications include Premium Assistance Programs: How are they Financed and Do They Save States Money? and Immigrants and Health Care: A Primer, for the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Alker has worked on issues affecting low-income families for more than 15 years.
Jack Hoadley is a health policy analyst and researcher at Georgetown University with more than 20 years of experience in the field. He joined the Health Policy Institute in 2002 with a primary focus on health financing topics, including Medicare, Medicaid and policies relating to the health care marketplace. Recent projects have included studies of formularies and other cost containment approaches for prescription drugs, state experience with pharmaceutical assistance programs, the use of evidence-based medicine to manage pharmacy costs for Medicaid, and several projects relating to the implementation of Medicare Part D.
Jeffrey S. Crowley is a senior research scholar at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute. He has extensive experience conducting policy research related to people living with HIV/AIDS and those with other disabilities. Crowley’s primary areas of expertise are: Medicaid policy, including Medicaid prescription drug policies; Medicare policy, with an emphasis on issues impacting non-elderly people with disabilities; and consumer education and training.
About the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University
The Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University is a multi-disciplinary group of faculty and staff dedicated to conducting research on key issues in health policy and health services research. Institute members are engaged in a wide diversity of projects, focusing on issues relating to health care financing, the uninsured, federal health insurance reforms, quality of care and outcomes research, mental health services research and the impact of changes in the health care market on providers and patients. For more information, visit: http://hpi.georgetown.edu/.
About Georgetown University
Georgetown University is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in America, founded in 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. Georgetown today is a major student-centered, international, research university offering respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs on its three campuses in Washington, DC. For more information about Georgetown University, visit www.georgetown.edu.
