At 10:00 am this morning, Governor Pat McCrory released highlights of Partnership for Healthy NC, the proposed blueprint for North Carolina’s Medicaid reform.
The new program compares somewhat to the Florida model in which competing managed care programs offer Medicaid services to enrolled recipients – just not with the federally funded Medicaid Expansion dollars.
Health and Human Services Secretary Aldona Wos announced there will be a total of “three-ish” managed care organizations, dubbed as Comprehensive Care Entities, under the state’s reform. The intended framework of these organizations shifts towards a more coordinated care approach in which physical, mental, and substance abuse medical providers work together to generate better health outcomes of each patient.
Furthermore, the Comprehensive Care Entities (CCEs) will operate under one IT system for Medicaid eligibility determination and one financial system for medical service reimbursement. The idea of uniformity seeks to reduce duplicative and overutilization of services that currently exist. North Carolina spends 30% higher administrative costs in comparison to other states its size while taxpayers contribute $13 billion each year into the entitlement.
North Carolina Medicaid Director Carol Steckel and Secretary Wos state that the reform is not a budget exercise, but rather an initiative to create healthier North Carolinians and a more attractive place to practice medicine. The emphasis of more efficiency, better care, and better health outcomes to North Carolina’s most vulnerable citizens may result in cost-savings in the long-run.
