Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Princeton, NJ)
Medicaid programs in Arizona, California, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, and West Virginia received the 2022 Medicaid Innovation Award, presented by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Academy for State Health Policy. The nonpartisan award recognizes states for demonstrating creativity, leadership, and progress in their Medicaid programs despite significant public health challenges in recent years.
Selected by a panel of expert advisers, Medicaid Innovation Award recipients are Medicaid agency leaders who implemented or enhanced initiatives that demonstrate innovative and unique approaches to improving the health and lives of Medicaid enrollees. Awards were given in six categories:
- Enrollment Innovations—Kentucky implemented a range of measures during the COVID-19 pandemic to simplify Medicaid enrollment and increase access to coverage including targeted, data-driven marketing and outreach; a simplified application; and coordination with other state agencies.
- Improving Access to Care—North Carolina developed a maternal/perinatal telehealth policy during the COVID-19 pandemic that provided telehealth and home visit care to patients; provided reimbursement to perinatal providers for remote blood pressure monitoring, physiological monitoring, and lactation services; and conducted postpartum depression screenings by video, phone, and online portal messaging.
- Initiatives to Address Social Determinants of Health—Arizona developed its Whole Person Care Initiative, which offers a range of support services to enrollees including transitional housing; referrals for and transportation to community-based services such as employment and food assistance; and long-term care services to reduce social isolation.
- Care Coordination Initiatives for Vulnerable Populations—West Virginia launched a program for children in foster care that reduces fragmentation and provides a continuum of acute services, delivers needed services in the most integrated and cost-effective way possible, and ensures quality across services.
- Addressing Health Disparities—Minnesota engaged community members to inform recommendations on how to address racial equity for Black Minnesotans. The recommendations address enrollment and renewal, increasing access to culturally relevant care, and engaging communities and families served by the program.
- Promising or Emerging Initiatives—California introduced an initiative to address complex challenges such as homelessness; insufficient access to behavioral healthcare; and caring for children with complex medical conditions, justice-involved individuals, and the growing aging population. The initiative supports non-clinical interventions to address social determinants of health and reduce disparities and inequities.
The recognized states demonstrate diversity in political composition, geography, and state Medicaid program size.
Contact: Sara Matthews at 281.650.2961 or smatthews@messagepartnerspr.com.