On Friday,? ?Gov.? ?Rick Scott announced the federal Centers for Medicare? and ?Medicaid Services? (?CMS?) ?gave final approval to offer managed care programs to every county in the state.?
In? ?2006,? ?the state launched a five-county pilot offering Medicaid recipients managed care options.? ?The pilot,? ?based on the First Coast and in Broward County,? ?was a top priority of Gov.? ?Jeb Bush.?
Florida is leading the nation in improving cost,? ?quality and access in the Medicaid program,? ?Scott said on Friday.? ?CMS final approval of our Medicaid managed care waiver is a huge win for Florida families because it will improve the coordination of care throughout the Medicaid system.? ?Health care providers can now more effectively manage chronic conditions and work with families to provide preventative treatments.? ?When I met with HHS Secretary? ?Sebelius in D.C.,? ?I underscored how important it was for Florida to have increased flexibility in our Medicaid program by granting us the ability to utilize private insurers and other innovative providers.? ?With this long-awaited waiver,? ?we will be able to provide Medicaid users with quality,? ?value-based and patient-centered care.?
Scotts team insisted on Friday that more Floridians in managed care would allow better services while ensuring participants would be in better health and would find easy transitions into the new program.? ?Proponents of the managed care model also point to the Healthy Behaviors programs which encourage Floridians to take better care of themselves.? ?Supporters of the managed care program also believe it will help rein in Medicaid costs which continue to increase.?
The state Agency for Healthcare Administration plans to launch the managed care model across the state next April and is expected to enroll around? ?2.9? ?million Floridians.?
Florida CHAIN? (?Community Health Action Information Network?) ?offered a lukewarm response to the news on Friday,? ?issuing a statement insisting the expansion of managed care? ?gives patients reason both to hope and to be vigilant.?
While stressing the managed care program is in better shape now than it was when the pilot was first launched,? ?Florida CHAIN insisted there remained problems.?
The countless reports of disrupted,? ?delayed and denied care streaming in from the original five counties are still very fresh in the minds of all stakeholders,? ?the organization stated on Friday.? ?Advocates will continue to monitor implementation and call on the Agency for Health Care Administration,? ?Floridas Medicaid agency,? ?to put the needs of patients above the interests of companies with a strong financial incentive to limit care.
?Medicaid managed care has a horrendous track record in Florida,? ?and the bankruptcy and ongoing fraud investigation of Universal Healthcare provides yet another confirmation that patients and taxpayers remain at risk,? ?Florida CHAIN continued.? ?Yet Medicaid HMOs just like once-praised Universal will now control access to care for almost all of Floridas poorest children,? ?pregnant women,? ?seniors and people with disabilities.? ?Patients and their families and advocates will need to be extremely vigilant and vocal as the experiment proceeds.?
Kevin Derby can be reached at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at? ?904?-?521-3722
