News & Bulletins Archive
The Center has produced a summary for the mental health symposium it hosted on June 12. This piece highlights the day’s proceedings, including a summary of each speaker’s presentation and overarching themes. Click here to read more on the events of Moving Forward: Designing and Financing Mental Health Services in an Era of Transformation.
On June 7, 2007, the Center for Health Program Development and Management, together with the UMBC Department of Public Policy, sponsored a public policy forum examining emergency room services in Maryland. Click here for the program and presentations.
Effective immediately, Ann Volpel has been selected to direct the Center’s Acute Care Policy Unit. Ms. Volpel, who joined the Center as a research analyst in 2001, will now be responsible for directing the Center’s work on Medicaid managed care policy, financing, and performance assessment, working with Maryland and other states. She will also manage the Center’s work related to behavioral health and state coverage initiatives. She succeeds John O’Brien, who left the Center in January to join the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission.
The Center for Health Program Development and Management has been providing strategic and analytical support to the federal Medicaid Commission and assisting with preparation of the Commission’s final report. On November 16, 2006, in Washington, Chuck Milligan, the Center’s executive director, delivered this presentation as part of the discussion of the Commission’s final report and recommendations:
Chairman’s Mark and Proposed Amendments
On November 28, 2006, the Medicaid Commission released its final recommendations.
Todd Eberly, a senior research analyst at the Center, has received the 2006 Annual Dissertation Award from the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) for his dissertation entitled, Managing the Gap: Evaluating the Impact of Medicaid Managed Care on Service Use and Disparities in Health Care Access. Dr. Eberly examined whether racial and ethnic minorities experience disparate access to preventive health services in Maryland Medicaid and whether Maryland ‘s transition to Medicaid managed care had an impact on disparities. He received a Ph.D. in Public Policy from UMBC this past spring.
Click here for the Policy Brief on Dr. Eberly’s Dissertation
Click here for Dr. Eberly’s Dissertation.
Chuck Milligan, executive director of the Center for Health Program Development and Management, delivered these presentations to the federal Medicaid Commission in Washington, D.C., on September 6, 2006:
A survey of Maryland Medicaid beneficiaries conducted by the Center in 2005 found a significant discrepancy in Medicaid enrollment between state records and the Current Population Survey (CPS) administered by the U.S. Census Bureau. To address the CPS undercount, the Center recommended that the Census Bureau alter the 2005 CPS survey instrument to include “Medical Assistance” as an alternative name for the Maryland Medicaid program. This is the name by which Medicaid is known to most Maryland Medicaid enrollees. The 2005 CPS, released August 29, 2006, reports a 15 percent increase in Maryland Medicaid enrollees, along with a slight decline in the number of uninsured Marylanders. While the CPS still reports a significant undercount in Maryland Medicaid enrollees, the undercount is now in the range of the national average (20%-25%). The increase in the number of Medicaid enrollees and the decrease in the number of uninsured are in line with estimates presented in the Center’s report.
To see the 2005 CPS released on August 29, 2006, click here.
Center staff gave two presentations at the AcademyHealth 2006 Annual Research Meeting in Seattle , Washington . Todd Eberly, Ph.D., senior research analyst, delivered this presentation to the Child Health Services Research Meeting on June 24, 2006: Evaluating the Impact of Medicaid Managed Care on Preventive Health Care Use by Children and Adolescents
Chuck Milligan, executive director of the Center, delivered this presentation at the session entitled, “Medicaid Reform: What’s Working and What’s Not?” on Sunday, June 25, 2006: Medicaid Reform: Policy Roundtable Discussion
Chuck Milligan delivered the keynote address to the 5th Annual Medicaid Research Conference in Tallahassee , Florida , on June 1, 2006.
Medicaid Consumer-Directed Health Purchasing (as explained by Yogi Berra)
The Center for Health Program Development and Management will host a one-day symposium on June 13, 2006, entitled The Changing Health Insurance Market: Implications for Public Policy and for State Government Purchasers. Click here for more information or contact Joyce Meyers at 410.455.6377 or jmeyers@hilltop.umbc.edu.
Chuck Milligan, executive director of the Center for Health Program Development and Management, delivered this presentation to the federal Medicaid Commission in Dallas on May 17, 2006: Who Are the Dual Eligibles?
Chuck Milligan, executive director of the Center for Health Program Development and Management, delivered this presentation to the federal Medicaid Commission in Atlanta on March 14, 2006: Long-Term Care: Overview and Summary of Reform Proposals
Chuck Milligan, executive director of the Center for Health Program Development and Management, delivered this presentation to the federal Medicaid Commission at its meeting in Washington on January 25, 2006: Summary of Medicaid Reform Proposals: Eligibility Provisions
On January 18, 2006, the Center will convene Ian Axford fellows and invited guests at UMBC for a one-day forum. Established in 1995, the Ian Axford Fellowships in Public Policy give outstanding American professionals opportunities to study, travel, and gain practical experience in public policy in New Zealand . Health care, the environment, taxes, ethnic diversity, and education are but a few of the topics that Axford fellows have investigated. The program has provided a unique opportunity to American policy professionals to engage in innovative thinking and explore diverse policy perspectives on a wide variety of topics.
This will be the first time that Axford fellows have come together. The agenda for the forum features presentations by the three 2005 Axford fellows who have recently returned to the United States.
- Dena Ringold of the World Bank examined how programs might be tailored to better address the range of disparities faced by indigenous peoples and other vulnerable populations, such as the 15 percent of New Zealanders who are also Maori.
- Nick Johnson of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities studied New Zealand ‘s Working for Families program. He explored the relationship between fiscal and tax policy in meeting the needs of low-income populations while promoting efficient labor markets.
- John O’Brien of the Center for Health Program Development and Management at UMBC investigated the complexities of measuring and rewarding performance in health care delivery systems.
Click here to visit the Center’s Axford Foum Page.
Reports by Axford fellows are available here.
Former Axford fellows will serve as responders, and the program will be placed in context with remarks by Robert Reischauer , President of The Urban Institute and former chair of the Ian Axford Fellowships selection committee; John Wood , New Zealand Ambassador to the United States; Annette Dixon , the World Bank’s Director of Strategy and Operations for Europe and Central Asia Region; and Peter Watson , CEO of the Dwight Group and current chair of the Axford selection committee. Discussion among forum participants is expected to generate fresh insights and novel approaches to public policy that otherwise might not be considered.
Academy Health has commissioned an issue brief entitled “Turning Medicaid Beneficiaries into Purchasers of Health Care: Critical Success Factors for Medicaid Consumer-Directed Health Purchasing.” It will examine factors states should consider when launching Medicaid reforms such as those proposed in Florida, South Carolina, and West Virginia. The Center is collaborating with Academy Health’s State Coverage Initiatives, a program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to prepare the issue brief.