Individuals With Disabilities and their Experiences with Medicaid Managed Care
Today, one out of every four disabled Medicaid beneficiaries receives health care through managed care. This Background Paper provides insights into how Medicaid managed care is working for individuals with disabilities, based on the findings from seven focus groups held in Florida and New Mexico. The key findings show that adults and children with disabilities feel alone in managing their health care and that important components of managed care – coordination and gatekeeping role that primary care physicians play — do not seem to be functioning well for research participants. Furthermore, the study shows that focus group participants feel overwhelmed and want help from their PCPs in coordinating their many health services and support encouraging managed care plans to give incentives to primary care physicians for managing their care.
