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Medicaid Maternal Care Model in Washington State

1-month old baby with her mother
Policy guidance on improving maternal and infant health care
  • Client
    The Washington State Health Care Authority
  • Dates
    February 2022 - December 2022

The Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) contracted with NORC at the University of Chicago to provide policy recommendations and analytic guidance for finalizing the design of a maternity episode of care (EOC) value-based payment model for the state’s Medicaid population. The state’s overarching goals are to incentivize high-quality, high-value care and target racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes.

NORC partnered with Actuarial Research Corporation (ARC) and Aurrera Health Group to develop a variety of deliverables and provide strategic technical assistance to the HCA. The project included:

  • an environmental scan on the maternity EOC landscape, including meeting with other states as needed
  • stakeholder engagement guidance and a stakeholder engagement plan
  • a communication plan
  • review and refinement of current EOC model specifications, in addition to the inclusion/exclusion criteria
  • financial modeling guidance
  • a framework report to outline the strategy for the model
  • quality metric guidance and an evaluation approach for the maternity EOC model
  • a design and implementation plan for the maternity EOC model

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