As Florida lawmakers fight the federal health law and march toward statewide expansion of a Medicaid managed-care pilot, a new batch of research on both matters is scheduled for release Tuesday.
Researchers from Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute will discuss their findings in a webinar titled Florida's Medicaid Program: Update on Waiver Changes and the Impact of Health Reform to begin at 11 a.m., an hour after the briefs' scheduled release.
“At a time when legislators are wrestling with what Medicaid will look like for the next generation, this will provide some context,” said Mary Kress Littlepage, a spokeswoman for the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund, which sponsored the studies and the webinar.
One brief will discuss health care in pilot counties under the 5-year-old program, which requires Medicaid patients in Broward, Duval and three rural counties to be enrolled in HMOs or other managed-care networks.
Lawmakers may expand an amended version of the pilot statewide in an effort to close budget gaps.
The report will be the eighth in a series of briefing papers, most of which found that the pilot program alienated doctors and worsened access to care for patients.
The other study will discuss the national Affordable Care Act in the context of Medicaid reform.
To sign up for the webinar, go to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/450878945.
--Reporter Brittany Davis, who is based in South Florida, can be reached at 954-495-6766 or Brittany.Davis@HealthNewsFlorida.org.