Social Determinants of Health

The latest round of current and upcoming state requests for proposals (RFPs) is continuing a sea change toward integrated care and greater health equity in managed Medicaid programs. Several states are redesigning their programs altogether, with a focus on integrating physical and behavioral health, as well as addressing social determinants of health. New Mexico’s new Turquoise Care program will combine physical health, behavioral health and long-term care services, while Oklahoma will incorporate managed care into its Medicaid program for the first time in 2023. Notably, the state is soliciting bids from both MCOs and provider-led entities to integrate physical health, behavioral health and prescription drug services. Moreover, Georgia and Virginia both hinted at upcoming program changes as they prepare to release RFPs within the next year, with Georgia recently asking stakeholders how it could improve health care in underserved communities. Texas, meanwhile, in the second quarter of 2023 will unveil what’s sure to be a hotly contested RFP — its managed care plans currently serve more than 5 million people. See an overview of key RFPs that are expected to be issued or awarded in the coming months in the table below.

Researchers continue to make progress in developing cell and gene therapies that offer the promise of slowing a disease’s progression and even offering a potential cure to patients. And while these agents may offer hope to patients, some challenges exist, including access to the treatments. In order for these products to reach their full potential, stakeholders must work together to overcome these potential barriers.

With its Feb. 28 FDA approval, the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech USA, Inc.’s Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel or cilta-cel) became the sixth chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy approved in the U.S. In addition, the existing CAR-Ts continue to get additional FDA-approved indications added to their labels, including for use in earlier line settings. And in August and September alone, the FDA approved two bluebird bio, Inc. gene therapies: Zynteglo (betibeglogene autotemcel or beti-cel) and Skysona (elivaldogene autotemcel or eli-cel).

As health insurers endeavor to improve care and lower costs for members with chronic conditions, they’re increasingly turning to companies that offer high-tech data analytic capabilities for help. Michigan-based nonprofit insurer Priority Health is one of those insurers, as it recently unveiled a partnership with the medical technology firm pulseData to “identify, notify and engage members with care management options” related to chronic kidney disease (CKD), which currently costs Priority Health roughly $225 million annually to treat.

CKD affects an estimated 37 million Americans — or 1 in 7 U.S. adults — but as many as 90% of people who have the disease don’t know it, Priority Health noted in a Sept. 27 press release. Because early-stage CKD typically has no symptoms, many diagnoses are missed until cases become more advanced.

Recently, the Biden administration approved a pair of wide-ranging Medicaid waiver demonstration programs in Massachusetts and Oregon, granting those states authority to test unique policies such as keeping certain populations enrolled in Medicaid for more than a year and covering clinically tailored housing and nutritional supports. Medicaid managed care plans that serve Massachusetts and Oregon tell AIS Health that they’re planning to play a major role in helping to implement the new waiver programs, which will allow them to expand some of the social-needs-based interventions that they’re already providing and reduce the enrollee churn that can stymie care-management efforts.

While the pharmaceutical industry has accepted the importance of digital, implementing it in patient solutions remains a challenge. Manufacturers should prioritize patients’ needs and understand how they can evolve over the course of their treatment journey to offer them accessible and useful solutions, according to industry experts at a recent webinar sponsored by Reuters Events.

One trend within the digital space is tied to the change within the health care landscape and its digital support methods. Most would agree that this is a positive development. But according to Paul Fu, M.D., chief medical information officer at City of Hope, a cancer research and treatment organization, as well as a research center for diabetes and life-threatening diseases, “I think that one of the challenges of being a health care system is that the technology is moving faster than our ability to handle that rate of change. We see that with our patients.”

Bowing to CMS’s request after another public comment period, Tennessee is reluctantly pursuing a series of changes to the pending TennCare III demonstration that had been approved by the Trump administration for a start date of Jan. 8, 2021. In what one source says is an unusual back-and-forth on public display, the state will abandon its notorious plans to implement a closed Medicaid formulary and adopt a fixed funding mechanism.

Shortly before President Joe Biden took office, the Trump administration in January 2021 approved Tennessee’s request to use an “aggregate cap” for Medicaid funding that many industry observers had likened to a block grant. Through that approach, Tennessee would have received federal Medicaid funds based on a fixed budget target that is determined by CMS and the state using historical enrollment and costs data. If spending fell below that target cap but certain quality goals were met, the state would earn up to 55% of annual savings to reinvest back into other state health programs.

As part of a Medicaid managed care revamp and its first statewide competitive procurement for the Medi-Cal program, the California Dept. of Health Care Services (DHCS) on Aug. 25 named the three insurers that will serve as commercial managed care plans (MCPs) in 2024. Elevance Health’s Anthem Blue Cross Partnership Plan, Centene Corp.’s Health Net and Molina Health Care were selected to participate in varying service areas across 21 counties. Health Net’s loss of three counties, however, spooked investors as Centene already faces declining Medicaid enrollment and continues to settle allegations of mishandling Medicaid pharmacy benefits in multiple states, the latest being Washington.

Despite a challenge earlier this year to its longstanding pact with Mississippi Medicaid, Centene Corp. on Aug. 10 said its Magnolia Health Plan subsidiary was selected to continue serving the Mississippi Coordinated Access Network (MississippiCAN) and the Mississippi Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Meanwhile, the state’s Division of Medicaid (DOM) unveiled its intent to award new four-year contracts to two other insurers, including new entrant and CareSource affiliate TrueCare, which will bump leading managed care organization UnitedHealthcare out of the market.

Centene over the past year has reached multiple settlements with states regarding its handling of Medicaid pharmacy benefits. In June 2021, the health care giant agreed to pay $55.5 million to Mississippi after a 2019 investigation by the Office of the State Auditor concluded Centene’s pharmacy benefit manager was overbilling the state.

Health-related social needs (HRSNs) can increase acute care utilization among Medicare Advantage members — including avoidable hospital stays and emergency department (ED) visits — asserts a July 8 investigation published in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s Health Forum. Researchers studied a group of about 56,000 older adults enrolled in MA plans offered by Humana Inc., and found that HRSNs, such as housing, utility and food insecurity, limited access to transportation, and financial difficulties, were associated with significantly higher acute care usage. Notably, 13.6% of the selected population were Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibles, a particularly vulnerable cohort.

With abortion banned or on the verge of a ban in a growing number of states following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, medication abortion has become more important than ever for women and pregnant people seeking abortion care. Abortifacients, the class of prescription drug used to terminate pregnancies, can be used more discreetly than surgical abortions: they don’t require an in-person consultation and, since the start of the pandemic, have been dispensed online without medical risk to patients.

However, experts say that the legal status of medication abortion is far from settled in states where abortion has been banned. Many patients haven’t heard that medication abortion is available, and women and pregnant people who do use abortifacients — or suffer a miscarriage — could face prosecution in states where abortion has been banned. It’s not clear what sort of criminal or civil risk providers, purchasers and carriers will bear if their patients and plan members use abortifacients prescribed across state lines.