Forum Session

Medicaid in 2006: A Trip Down the Yellow Brick Road?
May 16, 2006

Manager

Jennifer Ryan

Summary

This National Health Policy Forum session explored the continuing evolution of the Medicaid program. Speakers discussed recent trends in Medicaid section 1115 waiver development and considered the use of waivers as a vehicle for restructuring Medicaid financing systems and for testing new approaches to health care delivery. The speakers also provided state-specific examples of recently designed Medicaid waivers and offered insights into the goals and objectives of these innovative approaches. Finally, the panel discussed the role of section 1115 waivers as a mechanism for continued state innovation in the context of the Medicaid policy changes included in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

Speakers

Thomas W. Arnold, Deputy Secretary, Agency for Health Care administration, State of Florida; Barbara Edwards, Principal, Health Management Associates, Inc.; Cindy Mann, Executive Director, Center for Children and Families, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute; Beth Waldman, Medicaid Director, Executive Office of Health and Human Services, State of Massachusetts; Kathryn G. Allen, Director, Health Care, Government Accountability Office

Slides from the presentations by Mr. Arnold, Ms. Waldman, Ms. Mann, and Ms. Edwards are available for download

Related Materials

See also the related Issue Brief No. 810, released March 29, 2006.