Medicaid in an Era of Change: Findings from the Annual Kaiser 50-State Medicaid Budget Survey at a Forum with the National Association of Medicaid Directors

State Medicaid programs are in a time of transformation as the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the focus on delivery system reforms and the improving economy drive changes in Medicaid’s coverage and provision of health and long term services and supports, with varied impacts on Medicaid spending and enrollment around the country.

At 9:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, Oct. 14, The Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) will release its 14th annual 50-state Medicaid budget survey for state fiscal years 2014 and 2015. Kaiser and the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) will hold a joint briefing to discuss key findings and highlight trends and changes in Medicaid programs around the country. In conjunction with the briefing the Foundation will release two reports based on the KCMU survey: an analysis of national trends in state Medicaid enrollment and spending, and a compendium of four case studies of Medicaid programs in Michigan, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. A third report, also based on the survey findings and completed in partnership with NAMD, will provide a detailed look at the various policy and program changes in Medicaid programs in all 50 states.

The briefing will be moderated by Diane Rowland, the Foundation’s Executive Vice President and Executive Director of the KCMU. Survey findings will be presented by co-authors Robin Rudowitz, an Associate Director of the KCMU, and Vernon K. Smith, Principal, Health Management Associates.

Darin Gordon, President of the NAMD’s Board of Directors and Director of TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program, will moderate a panel of four state Medicaid directors who will offer perspective on the survey findings and share insight into key Medicaid developments in their states. Panelists include:

• Cindi Jones, Director, Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services
• Kate McEvoy, Director of the Division of Health Services, Connecticut Department of Social Services
• Stephen M. Groff, Director, Delaware Division of Medicaid & Medical Assistance
• Anthony Keck, Director, South Carolina Department of Health & Human Services

Breakfast and registration begin at 9 a.m.

The event in the Foundation's Washington, D.C. office is open to the public.