Self-Measured Blood Pressure Service and Device Use Increased Among Medicaid Enrollees from 2018-2022

Manatt Health Senior Managing Director , Senior Manager and Senior Manager co-authored an article for Health Affairs Scholar using nationwide Medicaid claims data to examine trends in self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) monitoring among adult Medicaid enrollees and offering insights to support state Medicaid agencies and policymakers considering SMBP coverage and payment policies.

When paired with clinical supports like patient counseling, education, telehealth and phone support, SMBP has proven to be both cost effective and successful at lowering blood pressure and associated health risks for people with hypertension, in addition to having a positive impact on health equity. State Medicaid programs have expanded coverage of SMBP services and devices in recent years, and the authors’ analysis found that rates of SMBP service and device use nationally increased dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, with wide state-level variation in use observed in 2022. The authors’ suggest that future research should seek to improve understanding of factors driving variation in state-level SMBP use, which may be impacted by state-level variation in coverage policies, reimbursement rates, and social drivers of health.

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