As healthcare costs continue to climb and the slow U.S. economy pushes more people into medical assistance programs, states are increasing their use of care management strategies to help rein in costly Medicaid programs. A new analysis by Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), a leading data aggregator and publisher of health plan market data, confirms U.S. enrollment in managed Medicaid plans is on the rise. Total membership grew by 9.7% from June 2008 to September 2009, reaching more than 23 million.

The growth rate in Medicaid managed care plans is even stronger than the increase in total Medicaid enrollment, estimated recently at 7.5% from mid-2008 to mid-2009. Both statistics demonstrate a growing opportunity for health plans seeking to replace business lost in employer groups.

This Healthcare Business Strategy brief presents preliminary results of MFA’s Medicaid segment analysis project and discusses how states and health plans are approaching this market.

Click here to read the brief.