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1992.10.28 :  Delaware Medicaid Demonstration

Contact:  Bob Hardy (202) 690-6145 
October 28, 1992

       HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., today announced
expedited review of a proposed Delaware demonstration program
designed to improve health care access for Medicaid-eligible
children.
       If approved, the demonstration would allow Delaware to enter
into a contract with the Nemours Foundation to deliver health
services in the foundation's pediatric clinics to children covered
by Medicaid.  Under the contract, the state would develop a
managed-care relationship with the clinics.  Clinic physicians
would provide primary care for patients and ensure appropriate
referrals.
       "Delaware's effort to enroll Medicaid recipients in a cost-
effective managed-care system is a sterling example of the kind of
innovation we are encouraging the states to pursue," Secretary
Sullivan said.
       The Nemours Foundation has agreed to subsidize the costs of 
services provided while funding the development of up to 15 clinics 
statewide.
       The new program would enroll the Medicaid-eligible
recipients in children's clinics being developed as part of the
1991 agreement between Delaware and the foundation.  The program's
goal is to
improve access to primary health care for both Medicaid-eligible
children and uninsured children of the working poor.

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    "Governor Michael Castle's accomplishments in health care
reform have served as a model to us at the national level as we
strive to enact a national health care reform program," Sullivan
said.
    The expedited review of Delaware's application is being
conducted by the Health Care Financing Administration, the HHS
agency that oversees the federal portion of the Medicaid program.
  
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    EDITOR'S NOTE:  HCFA, which also directs the Medicare
program, helps pay for health care services to 62 million Americans. 
HCFA's total outlays for the current fiscal year are estimated at
$230 billion, the 12th largest annual expenditures of any
governmental budget in the world.