The Effect of Minnesota's Value-baesd Reimbursement on Nursing Home Quality: An Impact Study Design Proposal with Preliminary Results

Abstract

Effective January 1, 2016, Minnesota implemented a new reimbursement system for nursing homes providing care to residents receiving Medical Assistance (MA), which is the name of Minnesota’s Medicaid program. At the time the Legislature passed the reform, the state estimated that the reforms would require over $124 million in additional funding during the first two fiscal years following enactment. One argument in favor of the design of the new reimbursement system was that it would reward quality care. The statewide implementation of the new system provides a natural experiment that could provide policy makers with the opportunity to test this argument and determine if the new reimbursement system is having an impact on nursing home quality. This paper proposes a method to begin to make this determination.