Financing Policy Considerations From Texas to Optimize Care for Children With Medical Complexity

Texas has a tremendous opportunity and momentum to build a more effective system of care for children with medical complexity (CMC) and their families. This is evidenced by growing collaboration among many committed partners since implementation of the Medicaid STAR Kids managed care program in 2016 and Texas' participation in a US Health Resources and Services Administration-funded, 10-state Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network to Advance Care for CMC from 2017 to 2022. Texas has several comprehensive health homes for CMC that position the state to serve as a national model of integrated, family-centered care for CMC and ensure high-quality care to an exceedingly vulnerable population. Further, Texas' elected leaders demonstrated their interest in system innovation in 2019 and 2021 by enacting state legislation to explore alternative care models and conduct a health home pilot for CMC. Much more must be done to sustain the work underway and bring the promise of care transformation to reality. To this point, we recommend that care planning and coordination be delegated to provider-led, integrated health homes for CMC with alternative payment structures that appropriately reimburse and align incentives with optimal care delivery. To realize the policy aspirations of an effective system of care for CMC, regulatory oversight, payment models, and outcome measures need to be improved to align with the vision articulated in Texas legislation and agency guidance. Although each state's Medicaid program is different, we believe each state can take away policy lessons from those learned by Texas.