Florida Privatized Medicaid Hits a Snag
(Posted September 19, 2011 08:05 am)
By Les Coleman
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Florida wants to get out of the business of running Medicaid. The state is trying to turn the program over to private health care companies. Six years ago, it started the move by creating a five-county pilot program to experiment in Medicaid managed care. The federal government had to approve the pilot, and now it's time for a renewal. But the feds want a guarantee that 85 percent of the Medicaid money is going to actual patient care.
Gregg Mellowe with the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy, has been tracking the program's glitches.
"There have been concerns over the lack of
accountability in the pilot project throughout its five
years. And the concerns that they've had have not been
resolved. I think that's been pretty much universally
recognized."
Earlier in the year, the legislature approved a plan to
take Medicaid Managed Care statewide. It would turn the
entire $22 billion program over to private health care
companies. Lawmakers say this will rein in costs.
State Senator Joe Negron from Palm City is the architect
of Florida's statewide Managed Care plans.
"There are going to be a lot of areas where the federal
government and the state government see the world
differently. We all knew that this was one."
So, talks between the state and the Federal Centers for
Medicaid and Medicare Services continue. The statewide
expansion is still being negotiated as well, and the
state will keep pushing the federal government to allow
it to implement its own plan.