The task force helped created a streamlined process for concurrent care billing and reimbursement within the Georgia Medicaid Office in 2014, entitled DMA 521-A. The partners also established a Medicaid task force in 2014, consisting of hospital-based pediatric palliative care providers, hospice clinicians, hospice administrators, and Medicaid administrators. The forum provides a rich environment for networking and education among key stakeholders in pediatric hospice and palliative care. To address statewide needs, PACT and GHPCO began an annual pediatric hospice and palliative care forum in 2013 that continues yearly. There was a concern that care was not being delivered effectively and both hospices and those providing disease-directed therapies were being charged for services and reimbursed by Medicaid inappropriately. In a 2012 statewide survey, PACT and GHPCO identified 2 concerns: (1) hospices were uncertain how best to care for pediatric patients and (2) pediatric hospice providers were having difficulty implementing the concurrent care mandate. We end by discussing key lessons learned from this advocacy and the future of this work. In Illinois, a pediatric coalition worked with state legislators and the Illinois Medicaid office to advocate for state-level concurrent care policy change. In Georgia, pediatric stakeholders and a pediatric hospital advocated for payment reform under concurrent care with the Georgia Medicaid office. In Louisiana, the pediatric palliative care coalition and adult hospice and palliative association built relationships with key officials in Louisiana Medicaid to advocate for a definition of concurrent care. Each case highlights the unique outcomes that can result when pediatric coalitions and key stakeholder groups connect with state Medicaid offices to improve education, knowledge, and administration of concurrent care. In this article, we describe 3 advocacy efforts that resulted in changes to Medicaid oversight of concurrent care that directly impacted child health and well-being at the end of life. The lessons learned in working with state Medicaid programs are applicable to any advocacy issue impacting children and families. In this article, we examine ways concurrent care has been executed in 3 different states and how key stakeholders in care for children with serious illness advocated to ensure effective implementation of the legislation. The pediatric professional community is called to consider how Medicaid services can more effectively be delivered by leveraging legislative mandates and collaborative relationships between clinicians, Medicaid administrators, and policy makers. Although this groundbreaking federal legislation has resulted in improvements in care for vulnerable pediatric patients, the implementation of the law has varied from state to state through Medicaid programming. Since its inception in 2010, the Concurrent Care for Children Provision of the Affordable Care Act has enabled seriously ill pediatric patients and their families to access comprehensive, supportive hospice services while simultaneously receiving ongoing treatment-directed therapies.
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