State Medicaid programs are in a time of transformation as the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the focus on delivery system reforms and the improving economy drive changes in Medicaid’s coverage and provision of health and long term services and supports, with varied impacts on Medicaid spending and enrollment around the country. At 9:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, Oct. 14, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) released its 14th annual 50-state Medicaid budget survey for state fiscal years 2014 and 2015. Kaiser and the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) held a joint briefing to discuss key findings and highlight trends and changes in Medicaid programs around the country. In conjunction with the briefing, the Foundation released two reports based on the KCMU survey: an analysis of national trends in state Medicaid enrollment and spending, and a compendium of four case studies of Medicaid programs in Michigan, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. A third report, also based on the survey findings and completed in partnership with NAMD, provides a detailed look at the various policy and program changes in Medicaid programs in all 50 states.

The briefing was moderated by Diane Rowland, the Foundation’s Executive Vice President and Executive Director of the KCMU. Survey findings were presented by co-authors Robin Rudowitz, an Associate Director of the KCMU, and Vernon K. Smith, Principal, Health Management Associates.

Darin Gordon, President of the NAMD’s Board of Directors and Director of TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program, moderated a panel of four state Medicaid directors who offered perspective on the survey findings and shared insight into key Medicaid developments in their states. Panelists included:

• Cindi Jones, Director, Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services
• Kate McEvoy, Director of the Division of Health Services, Connecticut Department of Social Services
• Stephen M. Groff, Director, Delaware Division of Medicaid & Medical Assistance