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McCrory and his DHHS Dream Team misled public on Medicaid

I disagree. McCrory and company were trying to make a core point that DHHS is incompetent and thus (a) could not be trusted to handle medicaid expansion and (b) medicaid administration should be privatized. B is esp important because they attempted to bury data showing that other states who outsource medicaid actually have higher admin costs.

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Remember when the GOP was going to clean up Raleigh? I guess we mistook what they meant by "clean up."
 
ArlingtonDeac said:
Remember when the GOP was going to clean up Raleigh? I guess we mistook what they meant by "clean up."
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"This Government is BROKEN! But don't worry, I know a guy who can help fix it...I'll hire him to help with the clean up. He graduated last year and cleaned up the frat house after the sickest party all semester. It was a mess, bro."
 
Deacon923 said:
I disagree. McCrory and company were trying to make a core point that DHHS is incompetent and thus (a) could not be trusted to handle medicaid expansion and (b) medicaid administration should be privatized. B is esp important because they attempted to bury data showing that other states who outsource medicaid actually have higher admin costs.

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Exactly. Is there any doubt that private administration of Medicaid would be outsourced to one of Wos's buddies at a cost much higher than the state administrators were already costing?
 
bmoneydeac said:
Exactly. Is there any doubt that private administration of Medicaid would be outsourced to one of Wos's buddies at a cost much higher than the state administrators were already costing?
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RALEIGH — Medicaid Director Carol Steckel will spend her last weeks on the job cut off from the Medicaid planning she’s led for months.

Steckel is leaving her $210,000 state position to be senior director of public policy at WellCare Health Plans, which provides managed care plans for Medicaid and Medicare.

The state Department of Health and Human Services is working on a plan to transform Medicaid that will open the $13 billion government health insurance program for the poor, elderly and disabled to management by private companies. They call the plan the “Partnership for a Healthy North Carolina,” and Steckel had the lead role in creating it.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/09/24/3225232/medicaid-director-heads-to-company.html#storylink=cpy
 
13 billion, transferred from a non-profit focus to a for-profit focus. That ought to be great for the poor people actually needing health care.
 
ArlingtonDeac said:
13 billion, transferred from a non-profit focus to a for-profit focus. That ought to be great for the poor people actually needing health care.
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Who said anything about people who need health care? This is about profits and who's going to get richer(er) from privatizing everything.
 
http://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2013/10/08/mccrory-administration-officials-suppressed-medicaid-data/




In a February appearance before the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, Steckel cast some doubt on those numbers, telling the committee that in many states administrative costs are hidden inside the contracts with managed care companies that run Medicaid programs.

“Actually, the administrative cost functions are in the managed care entities. And if you look at what is termed the ‘medical-loss ratio,’ which is what the managed care companies are allowed to use for administration, if you look at that for Arizona, their administrative costs would actually be 13.74 percent,” Steckel told the committee, explaining that the managed care company, rather than the state, was spending the administrative dollars.



And now Ms. Steckel gets to go dip her beak in some of those high administrative costs when Team Wos outsources Medicaid to Steckel's new employer.
 
Deacon923 said:
http://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2013/10/08/mccrory-administration-officials-suppressed-medicaid-data/


In a February appearance before the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services, Steckel cast some doubt on those numbers, telling the committee that in many states administrative costs are hidden inside the contracts with managed care companies that run Medicaid programs.

“Actually, the administrative cost functions are in the managed care entities. And if you look at what is termed the ‘medical-loss ratio,’ which is what the managed care companies are allowed to use for administration, if you look at that for Arizona, their administrative costs would actually be 13.74 percent,” Steckel told the committee, explaining that the managed care company, rather than the state, was spending the administrative dollars.



And now Ms. Steckel gets to go dip her beak in some of those high administrative costs when Team Wos outsources Medicaid to Steckel's new employer.
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It's bothersome how painfully easy it is to connect the dots and know exactly what is about to happen.
 
I know. At least Jim Black passed his money in unmarked envelopes in back rooms. The new regime isn't even trying that hard.
 
Where do you think the Managed care company is getting that administrative cost from and at how many patients expense?
 
Beatrix,
TO answer you read the article deeper, there were more people on Medicaid due to the poor NC economy and increase in state residents, It says that HHS notified both Berger and Tillis that they had not Budgeted correctly with these factors in mind. Further, how long do you feel a Managed care company will stick around if you make them assume all the risks? They will short change somebody to keep their losses to a minimum and then leave.
 
bcobbdeacs said:
Beatrix,
TO answer you read the article deeper, there were more people on Medicaid due to the poor NC economy and increase in state residents, It says that HHS notified both Berger and Tillis that they had not Budgeted correctly with these factors in mind. Further, how long do you feel a Managed care company will stick around if you make them assume all the risks? They will short change somebody to keep their losses to a minimum and then leave.
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This has happened and I think might be happening in Kentucky. Anyway, managed medicaid has worked in some markets and saved governments a lot of $ and delivered better, more integrated care. Im no expert but from what Ive read, its also a risky business and you make $ one year, lost it the next and hope to make a profit over the long run. Its really about the total expense here not just the admin.

There are a few interesting examples of innovation (Arkansas is one that jumps out) where they essentially put their Medicaid folks into the exchange. I have no idea if thats a good idea or not but does remove some of the Medicaid stigma. However, everything Ive read suggests that the Medicaid population is so unique that "normal" commercial products won't really work. Anyway, should be a cool topic to watch here locally. In the mean time, low income childless adults have no coverage which stinks.
 
DeacHawk said:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/10/10/3269679/wood-defends-pair-of-nc-medicaid.html

This is so freaking disingenuous: ""Our audit makes a clear comparison by reporting each state's Medicaid administrative costs, not the administrative costs incurred by a state's Medicaid managed care organizations," Wood said. "In contrast, the draft DHHS response proposes to cloud the issue by including estimated administrative costs of each state's Medicaid contractors."

Diaz suggested that Wood's letter Thursday negated the notion that DHHS leaders squelched data that could have presented the state's Medicaid program in a more positive light."

What the hell. If the state pays administrative costs directly to bureaucrats, that counts, but if it pays contractors to administer state programs, those costs just magically disappear? Are you freaking kidding me? I don't know anything about Beth Wood but this statement causes me to question her competence as state auditor.


Winston-Salem Journal editorial: http://www.journalnow.com/opinion/editorials/article_82f2d13c-31de-11e3-b223-001a4bcf6878.html
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WSJ editorial is dead on.
 
I haven't paid too much attention to the NC threads until this weekend. Wow, the Republicans are trying there best to fuck up that state. McCrory is making Easley look like a great guy.
 
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