All state Medicaid programs finance coverage of long-term services and supports (LTSS), which help beneficiaries with physical, cognitive, or other limitations perform routine daily activities, such as eating, dressing, and making meals. When these services are provided in beneficiaries' homes or other community settings instead of nursing homes, the services are known as home- and community-base

Under Medicaid managed care, managed care organizations (MCO) receive a periodic payment per beneficiary in order to provide health care services. Managed care has the potential to help states reduce Medicaid program costs and better manage the use of health care services. However, managed care payments also have the potential to create program integrity risks. GAO identified six types of payment

In Medicaid, long-term services and supports are designed to promote the ability of beneficiaries with physical, cognitive, or mental disabilities or conditions to live or work in the setting of their choice, which can be in home or community settings, or in an institution such as a nursing facility. States are increasingly delivering such services through managed care, known as managed long-term

Medicaid directors earned less than most top paid managed care organization (MCO) executives in 2015 in the states GAO selected for its review. Under managed care arrangements, states contract with MCOs to provide certain services to beneficiaries. Spending for Medicaid managed care has grown significantly, representing over one-third of federal spending on Medicaid in 2014. (1) In 2015, Medicaid

GAO's prior work has identified four Medicaid program integrity issues--where the program is vulnerable to improper payments such as those made for services that were not covered, were not medically necessary, or were not provided--as well as actions taken by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to address the issues and additional actions that should be taken. (1) Enrollment Verifi

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), as of July 2014, over 40 percent of nearly 71 million Medicaid beneficiaries were in fee-for-service (FFS) arrangements--traditional FFS and primary care case management--in which participating providers are paid for each delivered service (e.g., an office visit, test, or procedure). The percentage of beneficiaries in FFS arrangemen

Federal agencies have taken various actions to encourage early autism identification and interventions, such as specifically soliciting research in these areas. From fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2015, the departments of Defense (DOD), Education, and Health and Human Services (HHS), awarded about $395 million for research on early identification and interventions for autism. Federal progra

The appeals process for Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) claims consists of four administrative levels of review within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and a fifth level in which appeals are reviewed by federal courts. Appeals are generally reviewed by each level sequentially, as appellants may appeal a decision to the next level depending on the prior outcome. Under the administ

To help ensure that veterans are provided timely and accessible health care services, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has purchased care from non-VA community providers through its care in the community programs since as early as 1945. VHA's agency-wide data show that in fiscal year 2015, it processed about 66 percent of claims within the agency

GAO found that the selected states and Medicaid managed care plans face significant challenges in screening providers for eligibility to participate in the Medicaid program. Based on information we received from two selected states and 16 selected plans, GAO found that the states and plans used information that was fragmented across 22 databases managed by 15 different federal agencies to screen