Improve Quality and Efficiency of Care for “Dual Eligibles”

We need to improve care and reduce costs for "dual eligibles," individuals eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.

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Idea of the Day

Idea of the Day

The 8.8 million so-called “dual eligibles,” or individuals who qualify for and are enrolled in both the Medicare and Medicaid public health insurance programs, are some of the sickest and poorest patients in our nation’s health care system. Not surprisingly, they are some of the most expensive patients as well. Policymakers and program managers have long sought solutions for improving the quality and efficiency of care delivered to these individuals.

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the health reform law enacted in March 2010 offers new opportunities for achieving these goals by experimenting with different approaches to see what works. One of those options is to allow the states to assume full financial and programmatic responsibility for managing the health care of dual eligibles, in contrast to today’s practice of sharing the financial costs and management challenges related to these patients across two programs—one managed by the states and the federal government (Medicaid) and one managed only by Washington (Medicare)—each with different coverage and payment parameters. Other approaches may be identified and tested through demonstration programs authorized by the new law.

These opportunities must be pursued, however, only under circumstances that lead to better health outcomes for this group of particularly sick and poor individuals. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, which manages the two public health insurance programs at the Department of Health and Human Services, has two new avenues for improving care for dual eligibles. One is the new Federal Coordinated Health Care Office, which is charged with improving integration between the two programs, eliminating cost-shifting between Medicare and Medicaid, and improving quality of care. And the other is the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, which is charged with identifying a range of pilot projects related to the reform of health care payment and delivery systems, with particular emphasis on improving the coordination, quality and efficiency of care—steps that can benefit dual eligibles in particular.

For more on this topic please see:

The "Dual Eligible" Opportunity by Karen Davenport, Renée Markus Hodin, and Judy Feder

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