Status of the Medicaid competition demonstrations

In 1982, the Health Care Financing Administration approved funding for demonstration programs in six States to test a variety of alternative delivery strategies for Medicaid recipients. A number of innovative health service delivery features have been used in these programs, including competition, capitation, case management, and limitations on provider choice. These strategies have been tried in order to address the key Medicaid problems of cost containment and access to appropriate and high quality care. This article provides an overview of how the demonstration sites have approached the task of designing, developing, and implementing their various programs.