Below is a listing of select Hilltop publications and presentations. You can search by type, topic, date, and/or title. The search function searches for key words in both the title and the publication summary. Click on the publication’s title below to go to its summary.
02/01/2026
The Maryland Department of Health (Department) is responsible for evaluating the quality of care provided to eligible enrollees by contracted managed care organizations (MCOs) through the Maryland Medicaid Managed Care Program, known as HealthChoice. HealthChoice operates under a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 1115 waiver of the Social Security Act and Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) to serve Marylanders on Medicaid. Guiding principles for HealthChoice’s operations are to provide quality healthcare that is equitable, patient-focused, prevention-oriented, coordinated, accessible, and cost-effective.
Federal regulations require the Department to contract with an external quality review organization (EQRO) to provide annual, independent reviews for assessing quality, access, and timeliness of care. This independent review ensures services provided to enrollees meet the standards governing the HealthChoice program in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and COMAR. The Department contracts with Qlarant to meet federal regulations; evaluate quality, access, and timeliness of care; and validate encounter data.
Hilltop performed Activity 3 of this evaluation, which is included in Appendix A of Qlarant’s report.
Read the report online.
12/31/2025
This report describes the services The Hilltop Institute provided to the Maryland Department of Health under their Master Agreement. The report covers fiscal year (FY) 2025 (July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025). Hilltop’s interdisciplinary staff provided a wide range of services, including Medicaid program development and policy analysis; HealthChoice program support, evaluation, and financial analysis; long-term services and supports program development, policy analysis, and financial analytics; and data management and web-accessible database development.
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12/30/2025
Director of Analytics and Research Morgan Henderson, Executive Director Alice Middleton, and Director of Health Reform Studies Laura Spicer gave this presentation at the American Economic Association Annual Conference. This work examined why Medicaid work requirements had high compliance in Arkansas but very low compliance in Georgia.
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