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This October, 10 nonprofit organizations across Kentucky formed the Kentucky Nonprofit Recovery Alliance (KNRA) to advocate for reforms to how Medicaid funds addiction treatment. The group hopes to improve access to affordable, high quality care for residents seeking help for substance use disorders.
Advocating for Value Based Medicaid Funding
Among the KNRA’s main goals is a Medicaid model that rewards treatment outcomes like long term sobriety, employment stability and healthy births rather than simply reimbursing providers for services rendered. The coalition also wants to develop a clearer statewide system for referring patients to appropriate, evidence based treatment programs.
Kentucky’s Continuing Addiction Crisis
Despite a recent decline in overdose deaths, Kentucky still faces a significant addiction crisis. More than 2.5% of residents aged 12 and older meet the criteria for opioid addiction.
Kentucky currently has the highest number of treatment beds per 100,000 residents of any US state. Yet access to care remains uneven. Advocates say this points to deeper systemic issues including how Medicaid funds and prioritizes addiction treatment services.
Nonprofits Push for Outcome Based Care
Jennifer Hancock is the President and CEO of Volunteers of America Mid States and one of the founding members of the KNRA. She explains that Medicaid’s reimbursement structure often rewards volume over value.
Her organization has a different type of contract with Medicaid where they’re paid for positive outcomes. For example, her organization is paid when they can successfully deliver healthy babies born without exposure to substances and when they graduate mothers from their specialized program with stable employment and housing.
According to Hancock, the group is beginning to discuss policy proposals to redesign the system with the Medical Oversight and Advisory Board of the Kentucky legislature. They feel like now is one of the best moments to ask for this change, since Medicaid reform is currently a topic that’s at the top of everyone’s minds.
Find Free and Low Cost Addiction Treatment in Kentucky
If you’re seeking low or no cost addiction treatment through Kentucky Medicaid or other funding options, you have resources available.
Search for free and low cost rehabs in Kentucky and compare treatment centers that accept Medicaid, Medicare, or sliding scale payment options. Or call
800-914-7089
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