Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Florida takes the privatization plunge
[Diane Hirth, "Privatization of Medicaid eyed," The Tallahassee Democrat, The Wichita Eagle, 12 January 2005.]
The race to aggressively deal with out-of-control Medicaid budgets at the state and federal level is off, with federal agents swooping down on states to make sure everyone's numbers add up and states such as South Carolina and Florida working to implement a consumer-driven approach into the program:
Florida would stop shelling out dollars without limit for medical care for more than 2.1 million poor people and instead pay their insurance premiums, letting them shop for their own health plans, under a sweeping reform plan unveiled Tuesday.
The goal is to tame Medicaid costs and give Medicaid patients choices, with the sweetener of extra spending money for items such as pedometers and blood-pressure cuffs if patients lose weight or quit smoking.
Rejecting the current program as "a broken system that creates barriers for patients," the governor promised: "In effect, we would pay the monthly insurance premium for everyone in Medicaid. ... Competing vendors will be allowed to offer different packages to consumers."
Kansas, unfortunately, remains at the starting line. While the Governor has chosen to punt on dealing with Medicaid this session, perhaps legislators will attempt to accomplish something significant. Both those on Medicaid and those paying the bills should hope for nothing less.
[Matthew Hisrich, "Revamp Medicaid," Letter to the Editor, The Hutchinson News, 8 January 2005.]
[Diane Hirth, "Privatization of Medicaid eyed," The Tallahassee Democrat, The Wichita Eagle, 12 January 2005.]
The race to aggressively deal with out-of-control Medicaid budgets at the state and federal level is off, with federal agents swooping down on states to make sure everyone's numbers add up and states such as South Carolina and Florida working to implement a consumer-driven approach into the program:
Florida would stop shelling out dollars without limit for medical care for more than 2.1 million poor people and instead pay their insurance premiums, letting them shop for their own health plans, under a sweeping reform plan unveiled Tuesday.
The goal is to tame Medicaid costs and give Medicaid patients choices, with the sweetener of extra spending money for items such as pedometers and blood-pressure cuffs if patients lose weight or quit smoking.
Rejecting the current program as "a broken system that creates barriers for patients," the governor promised: "In effect, we would pay the monthly insurance premium for everyone in Medicaid. ... Competing vendors will be allowed to offer different packages to consumers."
Kansas, unfortunately, remains at the starting line. While the Governor has chosen to punt on dealing with Medicaid this session, perhaps legislators will attempt to accomplish something significant. Both those on Medicaid and those paying the bills should hope for nothing less.
[Matthew Hisrich, "Revamp Medicaid," Letter to the Editor, The Hutchinson News, 8 January 2005.]
Comments:
Post a Comment
