CountyCare Has Largest Share of Cook County Medicaid Managed Care Market

Cook County Health & Hospitals System
CountyCare Managed Care Committee Meeting - October 18, 2018 

What was Discussed: 

• CountyCare holds largest share of Cook County Medicaid managed care market, ahead of Blue Cross Blue Shield, with 335,484 enrollees as of August 2018.
• CountyCare has launched a series of social media marketing strategies to promote enrollment for 2019, including two YouTube videos with over 400,000 views combined within the last month
• New campaign slogan designed to appeal to working enrollees: “You don’t have time for a sick day”
• CountyCare enrollment goal for 2019 is 345,000; CountyCare saw a small drop in their Affordable Care Act enrollment in 2018
• Primary care providers in Cook County agreed to send out a total of 130,000 letters to potential enrollees supporting CountyCare as the best managed care option for their patients
• Patients with CountyCare can now get LASIK eye surgery and qualify for a monthly package of diapers if children are fully vaccinated 

How is CountyCare doing?

• State of Illinois is behind on making payments to CountyCare. Because of this delay, CountyCare is paying only around 50% of their claims to medical providers within 30 days of submission
• CountyCare saw a decrease in completed patient care plans for members in July after absorbing Aetna plan patients. Care plans are vital for managing high-risk patients
• As of now, 30% of visits to primary care do not occur with assigned primary care provider within the Ambulatory and Community Health Network clinics (these numbers are similar to other provider groups within the CountyCare network). CountyCare plans to stop paying providers who treat patients who have a different primary care provider

What else did the Board discuss:

• The board discussed sending out a patient survey to determine why some patients seek care outside of their assigned primary care provider

Items to Watch For in the Future

• New member enrollment into CountyCare plan and how well the plan holds onto current members for 2019
• The impact of the new marketing campaign on 2019 enrollment
• An explanation for why 30% of primary care visits do not occur with assigned primary care provider within the Ambulatory and Community Health Network clinics

Observer: Sarah Edwards                                                     Meeting Length:    One Hour