Insights

In this week’s Friday Five, MAXIMUS is reading about actions to address the opioid crisis, streamlining Medicaid physician approvals, how artificial intelligence may impact health care, and potential changes to SNAP.

In the 1990s, states initiated and drove welfare reform by proposing experimental or pilot projects under federal waivers.  As the state administrator for Iowa’s welfare program in 1993 and as the Michigan human services director at the turn of the century, I oversaw efforts to shift the charter of the program from providing financial support to actively helping families achieve economic stability through employment.

Opioids have become the new supervillain. With the rising number of drug overdose deaths in the United States, prescription opioid misuse has resulted in a public health crisis. The opioid epidemic is having a profound impact on our nation’s health – touching every facet of our society including education, business, health care, housing, family/social support, sports, law enforcement and culture.

In this week’s Friday Five, MAXIMUS is reading about moves states may make to stabilize the ACA market, the impact work requirements will have on adults with disabilities, Texas’s streamlined doctor credentialing system, a waiver request to restrict drug coverage and control prices, and how marijuana legalization could impact the opioid epidemic.

In this week’s Friday Five, MAXIMUS is tracking Medicaid as the primary funder of addiction treatment, the importance of waiver evaluations, the economic impacts of Medicaid expansion, and the challenge of hourly work requirements on low-wage workers.

In this week’s Friday Five, MAXIMUS is reading about Arkansas’ Medicaid waiver, the move toward value-based payments, Medicaid managed care plans, ineffective waiver evaluations, and a bipartisan move to stabilize the health insurance market.