Transition of Georgia Medicaid, PeachCare Beneficiaries to HMOs Delayed

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) has delayed the transition for about 670,000 Atlanta-area Medicaid and PeachCare beneficiaries into HMOs from April 1 until June 1, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. State officials said that the additional time is needed to ensure that computer systems are functioning properly and that networks of doctors, hospitals and other health care providers were comprehensive (Miller, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2/16). The transition will now be completed statewide in September, when the remainder of the state's 1.2 million beneficiaries are moved to HMOs. Moving the beneficiaries to HMOs -- which are to be managed by Amerigroup Community Care, Peach State Health Plan and Wellcare of Georgia -- previously was projected to save the state $260 million by the end of fiscal year 2007. The delay will reduce those savings by $14.6 million, the AP/Macon Telegraph reports. Health care advocates said a number of Medicaid beneficiaries have been confused about whether they could continue to seek treatment from their current doctors under HMOs. About 20% of eligible beneficiaries have selected an HMO (McCaffrey, AP/Macon Telegraph, 2/16). Rhonda Medows, commissioner of the state Department of Community Health, said, "While we are disappointed with this delay, we want to make sure we have developed a systems infrastructure sufficient to support a program of this magnitude." Medows added, "It's better to delay implementation than to move forward before we are ready and potentially jeopardize continuity of care for our members, claims payments for providers or the financial integrity of the department" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2/16).