WASHINGTON - Twenty-seven states will look for new ways to improve the efficiency, economy and quality of their Medicaid programs with help from $103 million in “transformation grants” awarded by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt.
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 allocated $150 million for grants to be awarded in 2007 and 2008. States can use the funds to design improvement programs for the care of low-income and disabled residents based on permissible uses listed in the DRA.
Leavitt said the grants give states the flexibility they need to deliver high quality care in an efficient and economical way. “With these grants states can streamline and modernize their systems, stabilize the exponential growth of the program and protect it into the future,” he said.
Many states plan to implement information technology, such as electronic health records, health information networks and e-prescribing systems, to improve quality and reduce patient errors.
West Virginia received the largest sum ($13.6 million) for the implementation of five “Healthier Medicaid Members” programs. Arizona received the largest single grant ($11.7 million) for the development of a health information exchange utility project called the “Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.”
“It’s gratifying to be recognized on the national level, and even more rewarding to know that the innovative work developed here will be made available to other states,” Gov. Janet Napolitano said in a press release.
The third highest sum ($7.6 million) was awarded to Alabama. In comments on his Web site, Gov. Bob Riley said the grants would “create a statewide electronic health information system that links Medicaid, state health agencies, providers and private payers while establishing a comprehensive, quality improvement model for the Alabama Medicaid program.”
Tom Dehner, acting director of the Massachusetts Office of Health and Human Services, said his state’s Medicaid grant will be used to “bring our vital statistics information into a format that we can easily use to verify information of Medicaid applicants and mitigate the impact of new federal documentation requirements.”
The grants can be applied to many projects, including:
• Automated fraud, abuse and improper payment tracking;
• Electronic citizenship verification;
• Medicaid estate recovery improvement;
• Credentialing services;
• Expansion of generic drugs;
• Improvement of access to primary and specialty physician care for the uninsured; and
• Implementation of a medication risk management program.
The remaining $47 million in Medicaid transformation grants will be allocated later this year.