Partnership creates info system to pool resources, save money

Michigan and Illinois are partnering to develop a cloud-based Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS).

The states are working with CNSI, a contractor that implemented and manages Michigan’s existing MMIS. The company is building the new platform that both states and possibly others will use.

The partnership provides opportunities for states to share knowlege and resources and efficiently implement federally mandated operating rules and compliance standards. The following are some of the benefits the states expect to realize:

• National best practices for MMIS cloud implementation;
• Formulation of a multi-state governance model; and
• further cost reductions with the introduction of new states to the cloud model.

The initial cost benefit analysis indicates that Illinois could reduce its overall implementation cost by 40 percent, while the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would realize approximately a 50 percent cost reduction in its federal matching funding contribution. The initial cost benefit analysis also indicates that over a five-year period, Illinois could reduce its overall operational cost by 40 percent, while Michigan would realize a 20 percent cost reduction in its operation, and CMS would realize approximately a 40 percent cost reduction in its federal matching funding contribution.