Friday, June 2, 2006
Mental Health Professional Wary of KY, WV Medicaid changes
Kentucky and West Virginia are the first states to amend their Medicaid programs permanently under a new federal law that allows states to enact changes to the programs.
Although federal officials refer to newly approved Medicaid programs in Kentucky and West Virginia as "historic," mental health professionals have mixed reactions to their likely impact on patients.
The two states were the first to receive federal approval of redesigns of their Medicaid programs under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA, PL 109-171), which gave states more flexibility to design Medicaid programs with increased cost-sharing for some services and populations.
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the two state plans in early April, although both are still finalizing some components.
The redesigns, which unlike past Medicaid waivers are permanent, strive to tailor Medicaid service to the age and health status of individual recipients. Prior to enactment of the DRA, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said, states generally could not target benefits to specific groups of enrollees.
"Kentucky is leading the nation in crafting Medicaid benefit packages to the needs of its residents," Leavitt said, when announcing that program's approval. "These changes make sense for enrollees and the very future of the Medicaid program."
The Kentucky program, called Ky-Health Choices, will offer various benefit packages aimed at meeting the needs of groups such as children, the elderly, people with disabilities who need institutional care, and the general Medicaid population. Medicaid enrollees can choose the most appropriate benefit plan based on their needs, such as the Family Choices program to serve healthy children and Comprehensive Choices and Optimum Choices to serve individuals with complex health care needs.
Read more about the concerns of experts in Psychiatric News.
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/elder_law/2006/06/mental_health_p.html