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Medicaid Redesign News and Events

Redesigning Alaska’s Medicaid program ensures the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) continues to provide essential healthcare coverage for low-income Alaskans, while streamlining the program so it is sustainable for future generations.

In Spring of 2019, DHSS brought forward a proposal that would establish a Continuum of Coverage for low-income Alaskans that would ease transitions between public health coverage programs and private market coverage. To help identify the cost effectiveness of the proposal, as well as identify potential quality and access impacts for Alaska Medicaid recipients, DHSS contracted with Public Consulting Group (PCG) to perform a Proof of Concept analysis of the proposal, including items that could be supportive of the concept such as work requirements and block grants/global budgets. The results of the analysis may be found in the PCG Proof of Concept Analysis. 

The work of Senate Bill 74 continues as new and additional reform efforts are explored. Senate Bill (SB) 74, passed by the legislature in 2016, enacts comprehensive reform of Alaska’s Medicaid program. The Alaska Department of Health & Social Services is implementing SB 74 through a series of 16 different initiatives. 

SB 74 was partly based on the recommendations developed under a 2015 Medicaid Redesign Technical Assistance planning process. Implementation of Medicaid redesign efforts outlined in SB 74 was informed by the Medicaid Redesign Implementation process. Please click on the Archives folder at the bottom of this page to see more information on these processes.

Fiscal Year 2022

• FY 2022 Annual Medicaid Reform Report Submitted to Legislature (11/15/2022)

Fiscal Year 2021

• FY 2021 Annual Medicaid Reform Report Submitted to Legislature (11/15/2021)
• Alaska Medicaid Strategy: Recommended Reform Principles and Savings Initiatives, September 15, 2021
  

Fiscal Year 2020

• FY 2020 Annual Medicaid Reform Report Submitted to Legislature (11/15/2020)

Fiscal Year 2019

• FY 2019 Annual Medicaid Reform Report Submitted to Legislature (11/15/2019) 
• 1115 Waiver for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Services Approved by CMS (11/21/2018)
  

Fiscal Year 2018

• Behavioral Health Administration Services Organization Request for Proposals Released (9/28/2018)
• Medicaid Redesign Update Presented at State of Reform (slides) on October 10 (10/11/2018)
  
• FY 2018 Annual Medicaid Reform Report Submitted to Legislature (11/15/2018) 
• FY 2018 Annual Department of Law and DHSS Joint Fraud, Abuse, and Waste Report Submitted to Legislature (11/15/2018)
  

Fiscal Year 2016-2017

• FY 2016-FY2017 Milliman Medicaid Data Book now available (10/9/2018)