Alternative Benefit Plans (ABPs), formerly known as Medicaid benchmarks, have existed since the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 gave states the authority to develop alternative Medicaid benefit packages for select groups of Medicaid beneficiaries. Prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) only a few states had selected this option. But the ACA brought new significance to ABPs by making them the benefit packages offered to the newly eligible Medicaid expansion population. This issue of the Health Advocate provides an overview of ABPs and what states have selected as their ABP for the Medicaid expansion population.
