Public Prepped on Medicaid Reform Extension

Florida is poised to extend the life of a program that exempts nearly 171,200 residents from the Medicaid program in favor of giving them greater choice in selecting health care providers,and the Agency for Health Care Administration spent Friday afternoon reviewing the program and seeking input for the program. .

A bill extending the state-run Medicaid Reform Waiver Pilot program now active in five Florida counties is on Gov. Charlie Crists desk. Passed by the Legislature in this past session, the extension postpones the expiration date of the Pilot program past the current deadline of June 30, 2011. The new expiration for the pilot program will be decided after negotiations with the federal government.

The pilot program is currently active in Broward, Baker Clay, Duval, and Nassau Counties. It requires some patients who qualify for Medicaid in those counties to enter into managed-care plans.