Gov. Rick Scott said Monday that the state will work with counties to lessen anticipated fiscal hits as they pay back years of unpaid Medicaid bills.
But for some counties, that may not be enough, resulting in a reduction of county services or an imposition of layoffs.
Scott held a series of business round tables in five rural Panhandle counties Monday, and among the first things he was told was of the pending economic crisis coming from the controversial Medicaid bill, HB 5301, he signed into law.
Legislators have said the state has been unable to collect full payment for Medicaid bills from counties for residents who receive health care through the state-federal program for low-income and disabled patients. They put the past-due tab near $300 million based upon 1.3 million claims filed between September 2001 and March 31, 2012.
The state Agency for Health Care Administration is expected to complete its county-by-county review of disputed bills and overdue Medicaid costs this week.
I believe that AHCA is going to be very responsible ... they understand you have budget issues, just like the state does, and theyre going to be very receptive to how fast you can pay things back, Scott said following a business round table in Quincy.
The Gadsden County visit was the first of five on the day for Scott, preceding similar meetings with government and business leaders in Calhoun, Jackson, Washington, Holmes and Liberty counties.
Scott said the state needs the federal government to give it a block grant for Medicaid, so Florida can decide how to spread the money, and for Florida to go to a statewide managed-care program, to control the costs that now make up one of the largest portions of the states budget.
For Gadsden County, the bill could top $750,000, said Sherrie Taylor, chair of the Gadsden County Commission.
We hear you when you say AHCA is going to look at these bills and there is going to be a good discussion about what is payable and what is not, Taylor said. But were still looking at a significant amount of money.
The Florida Association of Counties has argued that the past-due payments are the fault of state accounting errors.
Christopher Holley, the association's executive director, has called the bill "little more than a backdoor tax hike on Florida taxpayers -- passing the costs of a grossly inefficient billing system onto Floridians in the form of a newly unfunded mandate."
Under the current formula with the state, a county pays 35 percent of the total billed for day 11 to 45 for hospital stays. They pay $55 per month for each Medicaid recipient in a nursing home.
In early July, each county will receive the results of AHCAs county-by-county review and have until Aug. 1 to either agree to pay off the past-due amount over a five-year period or continue to dispute the totals.
We are only going to certify to counties what we can demonstrate as a valid claim, said AHCA communications director Michelle Dahnke.
For counties that agree to pay, they would get a 15 percent discount on the costs and have to pay one-third in the next fiscal year, with the rest of the money due over the following four years.
The alternative is to challenge the fee and risk paying 100 percent of the states invoice.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
