Clay’s Weekly Medicaid RoundUp: Week of September 18th, 2017
Soundtrack for today’s RoundUp pessimist readers- http://bit.ly/2xjCC9z
For optimist readers- http://bit.ly/2xkfN5j
OCEANIA INSPECTOR #1731- As service to my country (Oceania) I have enlisted as a social media inspector. My current duties are limited to tagging suspect articles with “thoughtcrime” but may expand pending further instruction from BB. If you see me comment on social media with this label please do not be alarmed. This entry was written with special digital ink only visible to good citizens who comply with the Party, so if you can read this you are OK. </doublespeak>.
FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATORS- As ACA money dries up, Ohio is nixing its navigator program (navigators are sort of like guides to help applicants understand options for exchanges and Medicaid). We will likely see similar stories in other states over the coming weeks. In Ohio, the Navigators contract went to the OH Association of Foodbanks, which just watched its annual budget go from $1.7M to $485k.
ADD COLORADO TO LIST OF DEADBEAT MEDICAID STATES- Its taking a little while to work out the kinks of the new claims payment systems. Hospitals are owed a little north of $200M for services dating back to March (when the new system launched). There are currently 98,000 pending claims.
BRIGHT SPOT FOR NC BABIES AND MOMS- New results from North Carolina’s Pregnancy Medical Home are uplifting. The program is credited with reducing maternal mortality by 40% in the last 15 years. NC pairs a pregnancy care manager with high risk moms to help ensure the right dots are connected. There are about 400 of these pregnancy care managers across the state, helping about 25,000 moms each year.
FHN SELLING ENROLLMENT TO COOK COUNTY HEALTH SYSTEM- If you have been watching the Illinois market you know there are myriad challenges. All the stress and strain was too much for Family Health Network (one of the largest existing MCOs), and they are starting the exit process. Cook County Health System (a big winner in the recent contract awards) will start transitioning 160k legacy FHN members November 1.
COPAYS AND PREMIUMS MOVE FORWARD IN NEW MEXICO- State officials are moving forward with the plan to charge $10-$50 premiums for some members (with exemptions for the most poor and for Native Americans). Copays would be $2 for scripts, $5 for pcp visits and $50 for hospital admissions. NM is also considering eliminating retro-active coverage (for a discussion on how this work, and other states considering this same change – check out the recording of last week’s news show).
CHICKEN LITTLE FATIGUE- Another bill to dramatically alter Obamacare has been introduced, and the Resistance has been re-activated by Generals Slavitt, Schumer and Moore. In an amazing coincidence, the Graham-Schumer bill has the same purported outcomes as all previous 4 attempts this year – it will kill all babies, all the elderly and make the solar system implode. We haven’t done a deep dive on this one yet, but who needs it really? We know the truth from the media talking heads so why bother questioning what they say will happen if the bill would pass. (thoughtcrime)
PELICAN STATE RE-UPS MMIS WITH MOLINA- Molina got another extension (the 4th 1-year extension), this time with a $46M price tag. MMIS-bid watchers collectively moved onto other states for another year…
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).
FARRIS’S FANTASTIC FRAUD FOLLIES– And now for everybody’s favorite paragraph… Not so fast my little fraud junkies. Not enough room in this week’s roundup, but I put plenty of fraud stories in the twitter feed for you. Check out the “food stamp millionaire” story for sure.
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 (even though the weather tricked us and its still not sweater weather) and keep running the race (you know who you are).
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