Missouri Lawmaker Attributes Massive Medicaid Enrollment Cuts To Software That More Accurately Assesses Income
Missouri Speaker of the House Elijah Haahr said the software found that a significant number of people weren't eligible based on income. However, critics remain skeptical. “Most of those kids probably should be eligible for Medicaid unless their parents’ income doubled or tripled," said Washington University Health Economics Professor Tim McBride. Medicaid news comes out of Louisiana, as well.
St. Louis Public Radio:
Missouri Speaker Says Scrutiny Of Medicaid Recipients' Incomes Led To Enrollment Drop
When Missouri officials announced earlier this year that more than 100,000 people, many of them children, had been dropped from the state Medicaid program, critics assailed the cuts as callous and unnecessary. But Missouri Speaker of the House Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, said Monday that the cuts largely resulted from a new computer system's ability to weed out enrollees who earned too much money to qualify for the program. (Fentem, 8/19)
The Advocate:
Two Of Louisiana's Medicaid Managed Care Firms File Protest Of State's Contract Picks
The two losing bidders for Louisiana’s new round of multi-billion dollar Medicaid contracts have filed protests of the state’s decision, claiming the bid process was tainted and that officials were biased against them. Louisiana Healthcare Connections and Aetna, two of Louisiana’s five existing Medicaid managed care organizations, or MCOs, filed lengthy protests of the bidding process Monday. The new contracts, set to go into effect Jan. 1, are worth billions of dollars and involve managing care for 1.7 million patients in Louisiana as part of the state’s privatized Medicaid program. (Karlin, 8/19)
