Medicaid managed care payment rates in 1998

This paper reports on a new survey of state Medicaid managed care payment r ates. We collected rate data for Medicaid's Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and poverty- related populations and made adjustments to make the data comparable across states. The results show a slightly more than twofold variation in capitat ion rates among states, caused primarily by fee-for-service spending levels and demographics. There is a very low correlation between the variation in Medicaid capitation rates among states and the variations in Medicare's ad justed average per capita cost. The data are not sufficient to answer quest ions about the adequacy of rates but should help to further policy discussi ons and research.