Soundtrack for today’s RoundUp pessimist readers- http://bit.ly/2vyPGXY
For optimist readers- http://bit.ly/2vyM3kT
MONDAY’S STATE MEDICAID SPOTLIGHT SHOW FEATURES PRESTON CODY, DIRECTOR OF WA MEDICAID PROGRAM INTEGRITY- After a long break, our State Spotlight show is back. Sign up free here if you are not already – http://www.mostlymedicaid.com/?page_id=1739
YOUR MEDICAID DRIVER IS 3 MINUTES AWAY- The Greater Buffalo ACO has inked a deal with Lfyt to carry bennies to their appointments. NET is a big, fat, tempting budget item that a small set of providers have had to themselves for years. I am amazed it took this long to “disrupt” this “market.”
PREZ USES BROAD DISCRETION BUILT INTO ACA AND HEALTHCARE POOH-BAHS CLUTCH PEARLS- Just kidding. Trump’s not doing crazy things allowed in ACA like suspending the individual or employer mandate during an election cycle (what kind of cynical, Machiavellian tyrant would do stuff like that?). In all fairness the whole CSR payments drama is a perfect analogue to the abuse of power that was set up nicely in ACA. He does really have them by the яйца (yaytsa if your pc doesn’t have the right font installed), doesn’t’ he? CMS is also encouraging states to submit waivers to alter the eligibility conditions (i.e. all the work requirements waivers you’ve been hearing about) and in some cases the benefit packages (ex: Iowa got approval to limit NET). #Resist!
UPDATE ON MA EMPLOYER FEE FOR MEDICAID- Covered this last week. Seems the outrage was less about forcing employers to cough up $750 per employee on Caid and more about daring to tie that to an expected effort to reduce spending. The Good Guvn’r has repented of this sin and now the deal simply taxes employers (a total $200M in new fees) and does not dare attempt the evil, hateful- dare I say it, Republican? – cuts (would have been $150M in Medicaid spending cuts tied to the tax). Forgot Draconian. APA style manual says you must use “draconian” when talking about Medicaid cuts.
THREE NEW STUDIES OUT ON MEDICAID AND KIDS- Good sumhttps://woocommerce.com/my-account/tickets/?id=605141mary at the AAP blog – http://bit.ly/2wruJLd . One looks at Caid costs by level of illness and concludes that a full 1/3 of all costs are for kids with chronic disease. The other 2 look at child ER super users and Rx costs.
CLEVELAND CLINIC ON THE REBOUND AFTER GETTING DUMPED- Seems CareSource OH ditched Cleveland Clinic from the network recently and it stung. So now CC has started dating Molina- this is the first time CC has been in network for Molina. CareSource and CC have said they will cement the break up if no agreement can be reached until Sept 1.
IF YOU LIKE YOUR MEDICAID INSURANCE, YOU CAN KEEP YOUR MEDICAID INSURANCE- A recent national survey found that Medicaid members gave their plans 78 more points than commercial members (out of a total of 1,000 points- 0.078% diff). So, when its free, its less than 1% more popular than something that costs an average of $5k + OOP when you do pay for it for a family of 4. Sounds awesome. Break out the champagne. Ready the confetti. Or maybe do all that you can to eliminate meaningful commercial coverage so there will be nothing to compare to and the peasants will accept whatever you give them all for “free”?
FARRIS’S FANTASTIC FRAUD FOLLIES– And now for everybody’s favorite paragraph. LaMar Taylor of Bowie MD was charged this week for scamming Medicaid out of $600k using his day-treatment services company to submit bogus claims. Bertha Blanco, an employee of the FL HHS agency was popped this week for her role in a $1B Medicaid fraud scheme. Her crime? In exchange for bribes, she helped a shady nursing home operator keep their license, which was easy since she was a state inspector. It was a slow week this week – only a few cases. But we did rack up $1.06B in tax payer loss. Quality, not quantity dear readers. Mrs. Blanco – you win this week’s award!
I WILL BE AT MESC IN 1 WEEK, WILL YOU? If so send me a note and let’s meet up.
I WILL BE AT MHPA 2017 IN OCT., WILL YOU? You can check it out here – http://bit.ly/2twCi5L Every 100th registrant will get a free Medicaid Foundations Course registration (our online training course).
That’s it for this week. As always, please send me a note with your thoughts to clay@mostlymedicaid.com or give me a buzz at 919.727.9231. Get outside (tomatoes are finally red) and keep running the race (you know who you are).
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