NJSpotlight offers videos from its March seminar on Medicaid Expansion

Lubetkin Communications produced another roundtable video for NJSpotlight.com in March, focusing on the impact Medicaid expansion will have on healthcare costs in New Jersey.

According to some estimates, expanding Medicaid eligibility in New Jersey could add 225,000 or more residents to the state’s healthcare rolls. While the increased coverage will clearly benefit low-income children, individuals, and families, it also raises a number of challenges for a broad spectrum of healthcare providers and experts, including doctors, hospitals, and policymakers.

These critical concerns were the jumping off point for the NJ Spotlight Roundtable: The Impact of Medicaid Expansion on New Jersey’s Healthcare System. They include:

• The true cost/return of Medicaid expansion for New Jersey
• The effect of Medicaid expansion on healthcare providers
• Medicaid expansion and the managed care model

Moderator: Andrew Kitchenman, healthcare writer, NJ Spotlight

Panelists: Sen. Joseph Vitale, chair, Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee; Raymond J. Castro, senior policy analyst, New Jersey Policy Perspective; Dr. Poonam Alaigh, former commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services; board member, Common Sense Institute of New Jersey; John Koehn, CEO, Amerigroup New Jersey, Inc.; Suzanne Ianni, president and CEO, Hospital Alliance of New Jersey Inc.

You can watch the roundtable chapters in the video players below, or purchase a DVD of this program in our online store.

Chapter 1: Introductions and Opening Remarks

Medicaid expansion comes at a crucial time for lower-income New Jerseyans. Over the past three years the administration has pared back its Family Care program, leaving some large holes in the social-services net. But at leas two challenges must be overcome: How can the state best reach newly eligible residents and how can it make sure they’ve been enrolled in the expanded Medicaid program?

Chapter 2: Panel Discussion

What are the biggest challenges facing the state when it comes to implementing the newly expanded Medicaid program? Will the pieces of the puzzle that are already in place, such as Navigators for the health benefits exchange, as well as the mandates and penalties specified by the Affordable Care Act, be enough to reach the state’s goals? If not, what more is needed?

Chapter 3: Audience Q&A