Medicaid Managed Care in Rural Areas: The Minnesota County-Based Purchasing Program

The State of Minnesota is implementing a major revision in its Medicaid program that provides the option for counties to assume responsibility for directly purchasing medical care for Medicaid beneficiaries in their jurisdictions, under capitated funding provided by the State. This option has been supported by many rural counties because it provides the opportunity for greater local control and improved coordination of service delivery. The objectives of this study are 1) to describe the initial response of rural counties to the new county-based purchasing option and 2) to explore the possibility of conducting cross county and/or before and after evaluations of the use of services by rural Medicaid beneficiaries.

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