While the high dram is in Washington where the Senate’s is hashing out its healthcare plan. North Carolina’s legislature is engaging in its own healthcare mini-drama. Winston-Salem Journal’s Richard Craver reports on competing House and Senate bills that in essence aim to rein in expenditures by the state’s seven behavioral health MCOs (emphasis mine):
At the heart of both bills, though not specifically named, is Cardinal, which oversees behavioral health providers who serve more than 812,000 enrollees in 20 counties, including Alamance, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Rockingham and Stokes in the Triad.
Both co-opted bills deal with issues raised by a May 17 report from the state Auditor’s Office in regard to Cardinal, such as using funding for expenses for alcohol, first-class airfare, charter flights, holiday parties or similar social expenditures, and holding board meetings, whether formal or informal retreats, outside of North Carolina at high-end venues.
The Senate rewrite prohibits Cardinal spending on those non-core activities.
The audit also determined that Cardinal executive director Richard Topping’s board-approved salary of $635,000 a year was nearly 3½ times the $187,364 maximum recommendation in state guidelines for the top executive of a behavioral health MCO.
Hard to say how this will play out—like the fellas in Washington, the fellas down in Raleigh want to get something done before the session ends July 4. A tight deadline indeed so it’s uncertain a compromise on the details of a bill can be reached. What I find interesting is –on the one hand–N.C.’s Medicaid waiver request (which could be a moot point depending on what comes out of Congress) while on the other hand addressing MCOs overseeing mental health in the state partying it up. That’s where we are, and it’s pretty depressing.
