CMS NEWS

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Room 352-G
200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20201

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                     Contact: CMS Media Relations
August 26, 2013                                                                        (202) 690-6145

CMS announces new Medicare-Medicaid partnership with New York to improve care
Initiative will provide better, more coordinated care for Medicare-Medicaid enrollees

Today the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new partnership with the State of New York to test an initiative to improve care for Medicare-Medicaid enrollees. Under the Demonstration, New York and CMS will contract with Medicare-Medicaid Plans to coordinate delivery of covered services for participating enrollees. Approximately 170,000 Medicare-Medicaid enrollees in New York will have an opportunity to receive more coordinated care as a result of this new program.

"We are excited to announce this new partnership with New York, which will help us work towards the goal of better care for Medicare-Medicaid enrollees," said CMS Administrator, Marilyn Tavenner. "We look forward to working with the state to provide these beneficiaries with more coordinated, person-centered care."

New York is the seventh state to move forward with a demonstration through CMS' Financial Alignment Initiative. These demonstrations are designed to offer more opportunities for beneficiaries to direct their own services, be involved in care planning, and live independently in the community. Beneficiaries' existing Medicare and Medicaid benefits will be provided through an integrated benefit design that will also include a dedicated interdisciplinary team to address each individual's medical, behavioral, long- term supports and services, and social needs.

New York´s capitated demonstration, known as Fully Integrated Duals Advantage, will focus on beneficiaries with long-term care needs. In fact, the majority of eligible beneficiaries are already currently enrolled in Medicaid Managed Long-Term Care plans that are providing long-term services and supports to beneficiaries today. CMS expects that many of these existing Managed Long-Term Care plans will participate in the demonstration and add Medicare services to the benefits available to their members. This arrangement will help ensure continuity of coverage for Demonstration eligible individuals.

The Demonstration is the culmination of an extensive planning and development process through which Medicare-Medicaid enrollees, caregivers, advocates, and other stakeholders partnered with New York and CMS to help shape the design of the new program.

CMS will measure quality including the beneficiary's overall experience of care, level of care coordination, beneficiary care transitions, and the support of community living in New York. CMS will also support a rigorous independent evaluation of both the quality of care received by participants, as well as any impact the Demonstration has on Medicare and Medicaid costs.

To learn more about the New York-CMS partnership or demonstrations in other states, visit: http://www.cms.gov/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination/Medicare-and-Medicaid-Coordination/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination-Office/FinancialModelstoSupportStatesEffortsinCareCoordination.html.

To read a fact sheet about the New York-CMS partnership, visit: http://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-Sheets/2013-Fact-Sheets-Items/2013-08-26.html.

The memorandum of understanding outlining the New York-CMS partnership can be found at: http://www.cms.gov/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination/Medicare-and-Medicaid-Coordination/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination-Office/Downloads/NYMOU.pdf.