Managed Care Experiences of Medicaid Enrollees with Disabilities: A Qualitative Analysis of Consumer Survey Responses.

ABSTRACT

This qualitative analysis of survey data explores service and care experiences reported by Medicaid enrollees with disabilities newly transitioned to managed care. Consumer surveys were distributed to a random sample of adult program enrollees with disabilities in an independent evaluation of one state's Medicaid managed care (MMC) rollout. Researchers performed conventional content analysis to code comments submitted by enrollee participants (N=402) in response to two open-ended survey items. Six key themes were observed in the data (1) unmet medical, long-term services and supports (LTSS), and informational needs; (2) ineffective care coordination; (3) barriers in accessing providers; (4) limitations in benefit coverage; (5) unreliable transportation; and (6) variable provider care experiences. The results revealed salient managed care performance issues for the disabled Medicaid population. Enrollee experiences can inform recommendations for service access, provision capacity, and the integrated care of people with disabilities in the state MMC program.