State faces suit over foster family placement

State faces suit over foster family placement
on Nashuatelegraph.com DHHS Releases Study of Children in Out of Home Placement in the Medicaid Program
Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 07:18AM
Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of Medicaid and Business Policy (OMBP) announce results from a study of the health and health care use of children in out-of-home placement (i.e., residential placement and family foster care) in the New Hampshire Medicaid program. The report is part of OMBP’s Comprehensive Healthcare Information System (CHIS) project. The study evaluated various health care measures to compare children in out-of-home placement to other low-income children enrolled in New Hampshire Medicaid during State Fiscal Year 2007.

“The study of the medical and mental health services used by the out-of-home placement population,” said DHHS Commissioner Nicholas Toumpas, “is an important cross-departmental effort to learn more about this vulnerable population the Department serves.”

The study revealed that NH children in both kinds of out-of-home placement had higher rates of disease, mental health disorders, utilization, and payment rates compared with other low-income children covered by Medicaid. The study also showed that children in out-of-home placement had higher rates of well-child preventive visits than the comparison low-income group and national managed care rates.

"The Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) has a strong foster care health program that has been recognized nationally as a promising practice,” said DCYF Director Maggie Bishop, “this research contributes to our model of continuous quality improvement and the results will have a direct impact on practice and policy decisions."

After removing services unique to special Medicaid populations (including placement services), the Medicaid payments for children in out-of-home placement were on average three times the rate of the low-income comparison group (per member, per month costs for children in residential placement were $807, in family foster care were $369, and in the low-income comparison group were $142).

To see the study visit the DHHS website:

http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us/DHHS/OMBP/LIBRARY

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