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Oversight council hears plan for five‑year Medicaid rate review, new safety‑net and value‑based working groups
Summary
DSS told the Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council the legislature required a five‑year Medicaid provider rate‑evaluation process, a Medicaid value‑based working group (reporting 2028) and a safety‑net mitigation working group with annual reports through 2029; DSS also described a nursing‑home bed‑moratorium exception and a study of inpatient psychiatric capacity for youth with ID/DD.
State Department of Social Services officials told the Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council that multiple newly enacted provisions will require multi‑year implementation work and formal reports to the General Assembly.
Matt Festa, presenting for DSS, said Section 370 of the session’s enacted legislation creates a Medicaid value‑based working group that will “design, evaluate and recommend payment models” and begin reporting to the legislature on Jan. 1, 2028. He also described Section 457, which establishes a safety‑net mitigation working group charged with tracking federal policy changes that affect safety‑net programs and reporting annually through 2029.
Festa and other DSS staff described a new five‑year Medicaid rate‑evaluation process that will produce an annual rate‑review cycle and an annual report with department recommendations; DSS plans a public comment period and a final recommendations report to the legislature by Jan. 15, 2028. "This will provide a set schedule for rate review and adjustments," Festa said, arguing the change aims to give providers predictability after years of uneven increases.
On long‑term care, DSS highlighted Sections 5 and 6 of Public Act 2,674, which create an exception to Connecticut’s nursing‑home bed moratorium allowing additional beds in existing or new nursing homes under limited circumstances; DSS said placements should be within a 15‑mile radius of identified need to keep residents near support systems.
DSS also flagged a technical‑revisions bill (Public Act 2,672) that includes a study requirement (section 16) directing the agency to study the feasibility of establishing an inpatient psychiatric treatment facility for children and young adults ages 14–21 with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The department said the study will include data analysis, needs assessment, benchmarking against other states and fiscal modeling; DSS expects to report results to the legislature by July 1, 2027.
DSS asked council members to direct detailed questions about the prospective rate‑setting process to the email provided in the meeting materials; staff said they will circulate the presentation slides to council members.
Next procedural steps: the working groups will begin their work on the timetables noted above, and DSS will accept public comments during the rate‑setting development phase leading to the Jan. 15, 2028 submission.
Sources: presentation to the Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council by DSS staff (see council slides).
