GAO: States not properly evaluating Medicaid experiments

With federal spending on Medicaid experiments soaring in recent years, a congressional watchdog said state and federal governments fail to adequately evaluate if the efforts improve care and save money (Source: “Evaluations Of Medicaid Experiments By States, CMS Are Weak, GAO Says,” Kaiser Health News, Feb. 23, 2018).

A study by the Government Accountability Office released this week found some states don’t complete evaluation reports for up to seven years after an experiment begins and often fail to answer vital questions to determine effectiveness. The GAO also criticized the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for failing to make results from Medicaid evaluation reports public in a timely manner.

“CMS is missing an opportunity to inform federal and state policy discussions,” the GAO report said.

Nearly three-quarters of states have Medicaid demonstration programs, such as those testing providing services through private managed-care firms and requiring enrollees to pay monthly premiums. About a third of the federal government’s $300 billion a year in Medicaid spending goes to these test programs, the GAO said.

The study, requested by top GOP lawmakers including Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), reviewed demonstration programs in eight states — Arizona, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York.