The non-partisan legislative branch agency that advises Congress, the administration, and the states on Medicaid and CHIP-related issues met recently in Washington, D.C.

The following is the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission’s own summary of its meeting.

The December 2017 meeting of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission began with a brief update on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Although federal funding for the CHIP expired at the end of September, legislation to renew funding was still pending in Congress. The Commission then heard from a panel discussing state tools to manage drug utilization and spending in Medicaid. Panelists included Renee Williams, director of clinical pharmacy services for TennCare; Doug Brown, Magellan Rx Management’s vice president for Medicaid drug rebate management; and John Coster, director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services Division of Pharmacy at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. At the final morning session, Commissioners reviewed a draft March 2018 report chapter on streamlining Medicaid managed care authorities. The Commission voted to approve recommendations to Congress, but deferred action on a third recommendation for further discussion at its upcoming January 2018 meeting.

In the afternoon, MACPAC staff previewed highlights from the December 2017 MACStats: Medicaid and CHIP Data Book. MACStats pulls together Medicaid and CHIP data from multiple sources that often can be difficult to find. The collection is published annually and individual tables are updated throughout the year. The Commission then reviewed the draft March report chapter on telemedicine in Medicaid, and later in the day the Commission returned to the topic of prescription drugs, to explore potential recommendations on the Medicaid drug rebate program.

The final December sessions covered MACPAC’s annual analysis of disproportionate share hospital payments (a required element of its March reports), and findings from interviews with four states to better understand how they are implementing Section 1115 Medicaid-expansion waivers.

The following presentations, many with supporting documents, were offered during the MACPAC meeting:

  1. State Strategies for Managing Prescription Drug Spending
  2. Review of March Report Chapter: Streamlining Managed Care Authorities
  3. Highlights from MACStats
  4. Review of March Report Chapter: Telemedicine in Medicaid
  5. Potential Recommendations on Medicaid Outpatient Drug Rebates
  6. Review of Draft March Report Chapter: Analyzing Disproportionate Share Hospital Allotments to States
  7. Implementation of Section 1115 Medicaid Expansion Waivers: Findings from Structured Interviews in Four States