The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is ponying up $100 for states to innovate and improve their Medicaid services and patient care.
“Medicaid innovation is moving forward, and the new Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program [IAP], announced in response to recommendations from governors, will give states the opportunity to even further strengthen their great work,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell.
This initiative is consistent with states’ recommendation that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) identify opportunities for care improvement and address high priority areas such as mental health and emergency department utilization.
Through the Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program, HHS is investing over $100 million in technical support to help states in their efforts to improve health, improve care and decrease costs for their Medicaid beneficiaries. While complementing other federal-state delivery system reform efforts such as the State Innovation Models initiative, this new initiative will help jumpstart innovation by providing federal tools and resources to support states in advancing Medicaid-specific delivery system reform.
The Medicaid Innovation Accelerator Program will develop Medicaid specific resources to support state-based innovative health care reform efforts by identifying and advancing new Medicaid service delivery and financing models to improve patient care by providing data analytics, improving quality measurement and rapid cycle evaluation capabilities, and advancing effective and timely dissemination of best practices and learning among states.