Mississippi hospitals grab for piece of lucrative Medicaid contract in draft tech bill

Lawmakers are reviewing a draft proposal that would give a chunk of the lucrative Medicaid contract awarded in June to a provider-sponsored health plan — of which one exists in Mississippi.

The early draft of the Medicaid bill includes revisions prepared by several health care stakeholders, which have been meeting in a discussion group facilitated by the Mississippi Hospital Association since the summer. It has not yet been filed.

Now, language in a draft version of the “Medicaid technical amendments bill,” which must pass before the division sunsets in July, would require Medicaid to develop a five-year pilot program before January 2019 and pay a provider-sponsored health plan to insure 25 percent of Medicaid enrollees.

Other changes in the draft, sent to lawmakers and health care groups in December, include eliminating a 12-per-year doctor visit restriction on traditional Medicaid patients, requiring that more services be reimbursed at the same rate as Medicare, including psychiatric services, and increasing access to vaccines for adolescents.

Clarion Ledger

1/6/2018