Request for proposals: Medical-legal partnership recognized in North Carolina Medicaid Managed Care application

Thursday, August 9, 2018

By North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services

Download the North Carolina Medicaid Managed Care Prepaid Health Plan RFP

North Carolina is transitioning its Medicaid and NC Health Choice programs’ care delivery system for most beneficiaries and services from a predominately Medicaid Fee-for-Service model to a Medicaid Managed Care model. The goal is to improve health through an innovative, whole-person centered, and well-coordinated system of care, which purchases health while addressing both medical and non-medical drivers of health.

The NC Department of Health and Human Services recently released a request for proposals for Medicaid Managed Care Prepaid Health Plans. It states that in order to meet high-need Members’ unmet resource needs, Prepaid Health Plans are required at a minimum to, “Provide access to medical-legal partnerships for legal issues adversely affecting health, subject to availability and capacity of medical-legal assistance providers” (see page 125 of the Scope of Services addendum).

This is an important recognition of the value legal services can play in addressing the social determinants of health, and this request for proposals is a good template for other states looking to incorporate similar language into their state’s Medicaid Managed Care requirements.