Sellers Dorsey Senior Vice President of National Consulting, Gary Jessee, was featured in an article for MedCity News, “If We Want a More Innovative Healthcare System, Look to Medicaid as a Model.”

Medicaid is probably the most innovative program in healthcare today. Its flexibility, adaptability, and focus on whole-person care have made it a leader in addressing the complex needs of vulnerable populations, and it offers useful examples of how to embrace true risk-based, value-based reimbursement.

For years, Medicaid carried a stigma: People regarded it as substandard healthcare for poor people that you would do well to avoid, while doctors saw a program that brings them too little reimbursement for patients with challenging health and socioeconomic complications.

But public perceptions of the federal-state healthcare program for low-income individuals, the disabled, children, and pregnant women has notably improved over time. With 79.3 million enrollees, when you include the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicaid now covers about half of all children in the U.S. and more than 40% of all births.