The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) has existed since 2009 with the passage of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act.  The Affordable Care Act of 2010 expanded the MACPAC and tasked it with reviewing state and federal Medicaid and CHIP access and payment policies and making recommendations to Congress, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), and states on a wide range of issues affecting Medicaid and CHIP populations.

Diane Rowland, ScD, longtime head of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, now chairs the MACPAC and will be leading the group’s efforts to work with individual states to develop policies and recommendations with the goal of reducing costs and improving quality. 

Four physicians sit on the 17 member Commission.  The Commission holds it public meetings in Washington, DC and seeks stakeholder input from both state Medicaid directors and the general public via their website MacPac.gov.  This week the MACPAC met to discuss topics such as: prudent purchasing in Medicaid, advancing children’s access to dental services and coordinating care for dual-eligibles.

 Comments regarding any meeting agenda may be submitted from the time the agenda is made public and for two weeks thereafter.