The National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) last week welcomed Meghan Davey as New Jersey’s Medicaid director. Davey replaces Valerie Harr, who has been appointed deputy commissioner at the Department of Human Services.

Davey’s leadership experience includes 17 years as Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services' policy director and chief of operations. She has led New Jersey Medicaid's health reform efforts and streamlining of the NJ FamilyCare enrollment processes. She’s also responsible for the policy and operational oversight of implementation of the Medicaid provisions under Affordable Care Act, including the expansion of Medicaid in New Jersey. 

In addition, NAMD released a report, The Role of State Medicaid Programs in Improving the Value of the Health Care System, that begins to describe the state Medicaid agencies' work to design and implement value-based purchasing models in the U.S. healthcare system. In particular, it provides an on-the-ground look at Medicaid's work to transform provider payment in a way that rewards quality health outcomes and contains costs through managed care and fee-for-service delivery systems. 

The report, conducted in partnership with Bailit Health and supported by The Commonwealth Fund, finds that Medicaid programs are broadly pursuing this value-based purchasing at the provider level. Nearly two-thirds of the 34 participating states have implemented or are planning state-designed programs to transform provider payment. The report also examines operational and policy challenges states are facing, as well as the next frontier of opportunity for Medicaid programs, such as value-based purchasing in behavioral healthcare and long-term services and supports.

Along with the report, NAMD sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell requesting HHS’ action to support Medicaid value-based purchasing in three ways:

• Promoting Medicaid involvement in federal value-based purchasing initiatives
• Including the prospective payment system for safety net providers in the national conversations
• Identifying how states can reinvest savings in the healthcare infrastructure.