Seizing the Opportunity: Early Medicaid Health Home Lessons

The Affordable Care Act provides states with a significant opportunity to support care coordination and care management for individuals with complex health needs through health homes. Given tight state budgets, states implementing health homes benefit from enhanced federal support for a limited time period, enabling delivery system investment and innovation that might not otherwise be within reach. Due to the time-limited nature of enhanced federal health home funding, states that implement these new models must do so with an eye toward sustainability and return on investment. 

In October 2013, with support from the New York State Health Foundation and the Missouri Foundation for Health, the Center for Health Care Strategies convened states that were early health home adopters to glean implementation lessons and identify elements critical to health home sustainability. This brief summarizes these findings to inform other states looking to develop effective health home programs.