State Medicaid Update: Florida House of Representatives Rejects Medicaid Conference; Substantial Differences in Legislation Yet Remain
The Florida Tribune published the following article on the progress of Medicaid reform in the 2011 Florida Legislature:
House rejects Medicaid conference April 13, 2011
By: Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature remains divided over the fate of Medicaid with a little more than three weeks left in the 2011 session.
Medicaid reform was supposed to be a signature issue for GOP leaders to tackle this year, but a final accord may not be that easy to reach since there are substantial differences in the legislation being pushed by the House and Senate.
Several more examples broke out into the open on Wednesday.
Senate leaders announced that they planned to a hold a formal "conference" in order to work out how the state will overhaul the $20 billion safety net program.
Since the start of the regular legislative session Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, has toyed with the idea of conferencing the differences between the two Medicaid rewrites: SB 1972 and HBs 7107 and 7109. It was a message that Sen. J.D. Alexander repeated at a meeting of the Senate Budget Committee.
There's only one problem: House leaders have not agreed to a conference, said Katie Betta, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park.
“Medicaid is not tied to the budget,” Betta said when asked to explain why the House doesn’t want to agree to a conference.
Alexander meanwhile suggested that the Senate should not pass the House's version of Medicaid reform because Gov. Rick Scott likes elements of the current Senate legislation.
"We don't want to risk the governor bringing us back later,'' said Alexander.
Both chambers have agreed to essentially scrap the existing Medicaid program to change the benefits allowed under the entitlement program. The House and Senate also have both agreed to use managed care as the main vehicle to lower costs and include requirements that long term care patients use managed care.
Additionally, both chambers have included in their rewrites lawsuit protections for Medicaid participating providers although the provisions are not identical.
But that’s where the similarities end. The Senate has gone back and forth on the idea of requiring a 90 percent minimum medical loss ratio for managed care plans and bill sponsor Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said he wants the Senate to have a deliberate debate on the issue. Medical loss ratio requirements are a mandate that a certain amount of money is spent directly on health care services to patients.
The initial Senate bill had the MLR for contractors and subcontractors but it was amended out by a Senate budget committee last week. In its place was a “shared savings” approach that is supported by the Medicaid HMO industry.
Negorn called it a "very important issue" and said it would impact how billions in Medicaid dollars are spent.
"I think that would be a worthwhile discussion of committee members to talk about methodology and how we ought to proceed with that," he said.
But Negron and Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, have filed an amendment to put the MLR requirement back in the bill. Negron said several members asked him about the shared savings approach and the methodology that will be used. He told reporters that he wants to include MLR requirements back in the bill and then allow a debate on the different approaches.
The Senate Budget Committee is expected to hear the measure Thursday and Negron’s amendment to place MLR requirements back in the bill will be in tow.
Another difference between the two chambers is whether providers sponsored networks are at risk.
For more information about the Florida Legislature and South Florida home care for seniors and other family members, contact Brian Gauthier at A Family Member Home Care(954) 986-5090 or www.afamilymemberhomecare.com.
House rejects Medicaid conference April 13, 2011
By: Christine Jordan Sexton
Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature remains divided over the fate of Medicaid with a little more than three weeks left in the 2011 session.
Medicaid reform was supposed to be a signature issue for GOP leaders to tackle this year, but a final accord may not be that easy to reach since there are substantial differences in the legislation being pushed by the House and Senate.
Several more examples broke out into the open on Wednesday.
Senate leaders announced that they planned to a hold a formal "conference" in order to work out how the state will overhaul the $20 billion safety net program.
Since the start of the regular legislative session Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, has toyed with the idea of conferencing the differences between the two Medicaid rewrites: SB 1972 and HBs 7107 and 7109. It was a message that Sen. J.D. Alexander repeated at a meeting of the Senate Budget Committee.
There's only one problem: House leaders have not agreed to a conference, said Katie Betta, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park.
“Medicaid is not tied to the budget,” Betta said when asked to explain why the House doesn’t want to agree to a conference.
Alexander meanwhile suggested that the Senate should not pass the House's version of Medicaid reform because Gov. Rick Scott likes elements of the current Senate legislation.
"We don't want to risk the governor bringing us back later,'' said Alexander.
Both chambers have agreed to essentially scrap the existing Medicaid program to change the benefits allowed under the entitlement program. The House and Senate also have both agreed to use managed care as the main vehicle to lower costs and include requirements that long term care patients use managed care.
Additionally, both chambers have included in their rewrites lawsuit protections for Medicaid participating providers although the provisions are not identical.
But that’s where the similarities end. The Senate has gone back and forth on the idea of requiring a 90 percent minimum medical loss ratio for managed care plans and bill sponsor Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said he wants the Senate to have a deliberate debate on the issue. Medical loss ratio requirements are a mandate that a certain amount of money is spent directly on health care services to patients.
The initial Senate bill had the MLR for contractors and subcontractors but it was amended out by a Senate budget committee last week. In its place was a “shared savings” approach that is supported by the Medicaid HMO industry.
Negorn called it a "very important issue" and said it would impact how billions in Medicaid dollars are spent.
"I think that would be a worthwhile discussion of committee members to talk about methodology and how we ought to proceed with that," he said.
But Negron and Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, have filed an amendment to put the MLR requirement back in the bill. Negron said several members asked him about the shared savings approach and the methodology that will be used. He told reporters that he wants to include MLR requirements back in the bill and then allow a debate on the different approaches.
The Senate Budget Committee is expected to hear the measure Thursday and Negron’s amendment to place MLR requirements back in the bill will be in tow.
Another difference between the two chambers is whether providers sponsored networks are at risk.
For more information about the Florida Legislature and South Florida home care for seniors and other family members, contact Brian Gauthier at A Family Member Home Care(954) 986-5090 or www.afamilymemberhomecare.com.
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