• Strategies for Navigating the New Medicaid
• June 4 - 6, 2006
• Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC
• www.MedicaidCongress.com

WASHINGTON DC USA -- HEALTHCARE UPDATE NEWS SERVICE(TM) -- MARCH 28, 2006: The National Medicaid Congress, www.MedicaidCongress.com, June 4 - 6, 2006, in Washington, DC announced today that it will offer a special session on New Approaches to Medicaid: Medicare and Medicaid Integration Models. The Medicaid Congress is powered by Avalere Health and sponsored by Health Affairs, Harvard Health Policy Review, FDCReports, Inquiry, the Milbank Memorial Fund and Medical Education Collaborative.

On Monday, June 5, 2006, the National Medicaid Congress will offer a special session on New Approaches to Medicaid: Medicare and Medicaid Integration Models featuring the following faculty:

• Gale Arden, Director, Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group, Center for Medicaid and State Operations, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Baltimore, MD
• Melanie Bella, Vice President for Policy, Center for Health Care Strategies, Princeton, NJ
• Linda Berglin, Chair, Health and Human Services Budget Division, Minnesota Senate, St. Paul, MN
• Mary Kennedy, Vice President, State Public Affairs, Ovations/Evercare, Minnetonka, MN

State Medicaid programs are undergoing fundamental transition. States are reshaping their Medicaid programs and their entire health systems by developing new models of providing benefits. The federal government continues to place Medicaid reform at the top of its agenda as it seeks broader cost savings. With the advent of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, states must maneuver real-time challenges in managing their beneficiaries' health, while adjusting to the benefit's new financial requirements for states. These changes affect all healthcare stakeholders who must develop new policy and commercial strategies in response to the new evolution in Medicaid.

Join national thought leaders for the National Medicaid Congress, www.MedicaidCongress.com, June 4 - 6, 2006, in Washington, DC. This engaging three-day session will address critical questions about emerging Medicaid reform models, the expanded role of Medicaid managed care, new federal and state strategies to manage costs, the impact of the Medicare prescription drug benefit, and the future of Medicaid long-term care.

Debbie Chang Senior Vice President and Executive Director Nemours Division of Health and Prevention Services Newark, DE
John Iglehart Founding Editor, Health Affairs National Correspondent, New England Journal of Medicine Washington, DC
Dan Mendelson President and Founder, Avalere Health Former Associate Director for Health, Office of Management and Budget Washington, DC
Thomas Scully Senior Counsel, Alston & Bird Senior Adviser, Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe Former Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Department of Health & Human Services Washington, DC

• Medicaid Prescription Drug Primer: How does Medicaid reimburse for prescription drugs work? Learn the basics of the Medicaid rebate program, 340b, federal upper payment limits, treatment of drugs by MCOs, and policy issues and implications.
• Medicaid Reform Primer: How do the federal government and states modify state Medicaid programs? What is the role of Congress, CMS, state legislatures and state Medicaid agencies? What changes require a state plan amendment, a federal waiver, or a change in federal law? The session will use as examples previous Medicaid reform initiatives, such as Tennessee, Oregon, and Arizona's 1115 waivers.

• New Directions in Medicaid and State Health Reform
• Medicaid Cost Containment Strategies
• Implementation of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit and the impact on states and dual eligible beneficiaries
• Medicaid and Long-Term Care
• New approaches to Medicaid managed care: The Florida and South Carolina Models
• New approaches to pharmacy management and cost containment
• Dual eligible and low-income beneficiaries experiences in the Medicare new prescription drug benefit to date
• Effects of Medicare Part D on Dual Eligibles in Community and Facility LTC Settings
• New Approaches to Medicaid: The Utah and Idaho Models
• Evidence-based practices and new definitions of medical necessity
• State Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs and other state strategies to supplement the new benefit
• Innovations in Medicaid-Medicare Integration: Breakthroughs At Last?
• New Approaches to Medicaid: Medicare and Medicaid Integration Models
• New opportunities for disease management and care coordination programs in Medicare
• Special Needs Plans and new innovations in designing prescription drug benefits for dual eligible beneficiaries
• State Leadership in LTC Reform - A Case Study of Vermontās ¤1115 Medicaid Waiver Program
• New Approaches to State Health Reform: Extending Coverage to the Uninsured and Reducing state health care costs
• Medicaid Managed Car - opportunities and implications of state expansions
• Future directions for the Part D benefit
• LTC Industry Perspectives on Medicaid LTC Issues (including dual eligibles in LTC)

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For sponsorship and exhibit information contact Joni Lipson, Exhibit Manager, 215-599-6626 phone, 215-545-8107 fax, joni.lipson@rmpinc.com.

For further registration information, go to www.MedicaidCongress.com, call 800-684-4549, email registration@hcconferences.com or write:

Medicaid Congress Office
7790 Barberry Ave.
Yucca Valley, CA USA 92284