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Medicaid and CHIP (MAC) Learning Collaboratives

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) established the Medicaid and CHIP Learning Collaboratives (MAC Collaboratives) to achieve high-performing state health coverage programs, a goal that requires a robust working relationship among federal and state partners.

The MAC Collaboratives are bringing together these partners to address common challenges and pursue innovations in Medicaid program design and operations as well as broader state health coverage efforts.

Learning Collaborative Focus Areas

Collaborative workgroups, each consisting of six to 10 states plus federal partners and national experts, are addressing topics that are critical for establishing a solid health insurance infrastructure. Below are collaborative focus areas and broad goals; visit the links for more information on specific collaborative efforts.

  1. Exchange Innovators in Information Technology: Provide a forum for EI states to explore key issues they face in launching state-based exchanges while creating various tools and artifacts to share with all states seeking to establish exchanges.
  2. Expanding Coverage: Enable states to understand new federal rules and effectively design eligibility and enrollment policies and procedures as well as benefit structures to fulfill requirements.
  3. Federally Facilitated Exchange Eligibility and Enrollment: Assist states that will be fully utilizing, or partnering with, the Federally Facilitated Exchange (FFE) to establish a seamless eligibility pathway for consumers.
  4. Data Analytics: Encourage states to consider the most effective approaches for performance measurement and data analytics to support program operations.
  5. Promoting Efficient and Effective IT Practices: Enable states to design and efficiently develop IT infrastructure that supports high performing Medicaid programs, reducing the total cost of ownership, project risk, and cycle time for new products and capabilities while improving business results.
  6. Value-Based Purchasing: Focus on building and financing the next generation of: (1) enhanced primary care case management and fee-for-service models, referred to as "integrated care models"'; (2) innovative managed care purchasing strategies; and (3) managed care contracting mechanisms to ensure seamlessness across the new exchanges.

These MAC Collaboratives are meeting regularly to identify new solutions for advancing high-performing state health coverage programs.  By developing new strategies, testing ideas, and collaboratively crafting solutions in a shared learning environment, these learning collaboratives are generating practical and actionable results that are being disseminating nationally.

Learning Collaborative Team

The MAC Collaboratives activities are coordinated by Mathematica Policy Research, the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), and Manatt Health Solutions, with additional assistance from external experts and in close association with CMS. Donna Cohen Ross, Senior Policy Advisor at the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, is the CMS Project Lead for this national collaborative effort.

For Information

For additional information, contact Dianne Hasselman, Director of Quality and Equality at the Center for Health Care Strategies, at dhasselman@chcs.org.