It now is widely recognized that social factors such as unstable housing, employment instability and lack of healthy food have a substantial impact on health outcomes and spending, particularly for lower-income populations. Not as well recognized, though, is that states have a number of tools at their disposal to incorporate some of the cost of addressing social drivers of health into their Medicaid managed care rates. Increasingly, states are exploring how they can use these and other options to move beyond theoretical discussions about the importance of addressing social drivers to implementing practical strategies through their Medicaid managed care contracts and rate-setting strategies.
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