Ark. Officials Report That Backlog Of Medicaid Application Reviews Will Be Clear By January
The officials reported to state lawmakers that nearly 88,000 applications for Medicaid eligibility were still pending on Sept. 6. The state has hired extra caseworkers and computer experts to help eliminate the backlog. Also in Arkansas, a legislative panel approved cutting some Medicaid benefits for mental health coverage. In Missouri, efforts to make Medicaid beneficiaries pay doctors for missed appointments are still a ways off.
Arkansas Online:
Whittling Medicaid Backlog, State Says
The state Department of Human Services is on schedule to eliminate its backlog of Medicaid applications overdue for review by year's end, officials reported to a legislative committee Tuesday. Department officials also reported for the first time that no recipients were overdue for an annual review of their eligibility. (Moritz, 9/21)
Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette:
Arkansas Panel Adopts Mental Health Medicaid Cap
A legislative committee Tuesday approved putting a limit on a mental health benefit for Medicaid recipients, despite objections from providers who said it would disrupt patient care and force treatment facilities to close. Under the change approved by the Legislative Council's Administrative Rules and Regulations Subcommittee, Medicaid reimbursement for group psychotherapy would be limited to one hour a day, instead of an hour and a half a day. (Davis, 9/21)
St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Late Fees And Co-Pays For Missouri Medicaid Recipients Could Be A Long Way Off
It could be as long as a year before a new state law allowing doctors to charge Medicaid patients late fees for missing an appointment goes into effect. And, even then, the future of the controversial law backed by Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature remains in limbo. Lawmakers last week overrode Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of the measure allowing for the late fees and giving doctors the ability to refuse to schedule new appointments until the missed appointment fee is paid. (Erickson, 9/20)
