Pennsylvania backs off co-payment plan; Texas investigates dental fraud; Alaska to study costs of Medicaid expansion in this week's Medicaid Digest.
Pennsylvania backs off co-payment plan for Medicaid services
Pennsylvania welfare officials are backing off a plan that would have required thousands of parents of children with autism and other disabilities to be responsible for co-payments for services paid for by Medicaid. The state agency is now looking to receive federal approval for a plan that would charge families a monthly premium, with the cost on a sliding scale, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"The department has always preferred the option of applying a premium to this program, and will be working with stakeholders who have come to us in support of a premium as opposed to the co-payment," Welfare Secretary Gary Alexander said in a statement. "Therefore, we have decided to delay the co-payment initiative, and families will not owe a co-payment for any services until further notice."
The co-pay plan, which would have saved the state a projected $9.4 million, had been scheduled to start Nov. 1 for services to about 48,000 children.
Texas forms task force to investigate Medicaid dental fraud
The Texas attorney general's office has teamed with the Inspector General at the Health and Human Services Commission in an effort to strengthen fraud detection efforts of the state's Medicaid dental program for children. The special task force was created in reaction to a spike in claims for orthodontic care that began in 2007 after the state authorized additional money for the children's dental program.
According to a report released earlier this year by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Texas spent as much on orthodontic services in 2010 as the rest of the states combined. According to the report, as many as 95 percent of all approved claims for those services should have been denied.
Alaska asks for proposals to study costs of Medicaid expansion
The state of Alaska is seeking proposals for a study that will help the state determine the costs of expanding the Medicaid program as outlined under the Affordable Care Act, according a report by the Associated Press. The state has earmarked $100,000 for the study, which would be conducted in the month of December. Alaska Governor Sean Parnell has said he wants to understand the total cost of the program should the state decide to expand its Medicaid coverage to adults making 133 percent of the poverty level.