The Medicaid Managed Care Program

In the 1990s, insurance companies and employers began to rely on managed care to control costs, and state governments followed suit by adopting managed care in Medicaid programs. To deal with the challenges associated with developing effective state Medicaid managed care programs, the 168 developed the Medicaid Managed Care Initiative in 1995 to help states, health plans, and consumers build strong programs to reduce the cost and improve the quality of health care for low-income Americans. This chapter of the anthology describes the initiative and offers an assessment of it that builds on the program evaluation.