Abstract

Network Adequacy among Medicaid Managed Care Providers in Louisiana
Track: Health and Human Services
Authors: Ryan Bilbo, Jode Burkett

Over one million Louisiana Medicaid recipients now have the choice between five health plans for the delivery of their health care. Rules have been established regarding whom each of these plans serves and their aggregate proximity to each plans' respective contracted providers. These rules include minimum drive distances and times between recipients and health care providers by type (i.e. Emergency Room). Adequacy of network is based upon a minimum number of recipients being within the drive time and distance ranges. Geocoding recipients and providers then running network analysis on these groups has allowed us not only to determine network adequacy but also provide insight on what parts of the state have the highest unmet demand for each type of health care provision. Many more opportunities for research are arising from this research (i.e. morbidity, mortality, consumption, etc. rates with respect to proximity).