title: Managed Medicaid cost savings: the Arizona experience.
abstract: This paper reports on estimated cost savings for acute care beneficiaries in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) over its first nine years of operation, fiscal years 1983-1991. AHCCCS has similar eligibility and service coverage as a traditional Medicaid program has but capitates health plans to provide medical services to beneficiaries. The results indicate that the program yielded $100 million in savings over estimates of what a traditional Medicaid program would have cost in Arizona. In addition, AHCCCS experienced a smaller rate of increase in program expenditures over time, so that cost savings have increased as the program has matured.
authors.affiliation: Laguna Research Associates, San Francisco.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: McCall
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Wrightson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Paringer
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trapnell
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease / Q000191:economics; D001130:Arizona; D002204:Capitation Fee; D003363:Cost Control; D017046:Cost Savings / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D008484:Medicaid / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013221:State Health Plans / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States