A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation puts a welcome spotlight on a most important U.S. health reform demonstration — called One Care — going on first and right now in Massachusetts. How wonky is this? The report title says it all: Early Insights from One Care: Massachusetts’ Demonstration to Integrate Care and Align Financing for Dual Eligible Beneficiaries. What’s it all about?
A population of Americans known as the “dual eligibles” is among the nation’s most needy and expensive groups. They are 9.6 million elderly and disabled low-income Americans who are dually enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid. For most of the 50 year history of the two programs, the “duals” fell between the cracks, getting poorly coordinated or no care. Twelve years ago, with federal support, Massachusetts’ Medicaid program, called MassHealth, started a “Senior Care Options” (SCO) program for coordinated/managed care for duals over age 65. Continue reading “A Most Important Demo You’ve Never Heard of… “One Care””
Health Stew 