Inside Arkansas' Options for Managed Care in Medicaid (Erika Gee Commentary)

As I suggested in my preview, last week’s meeting of the Health Care Reform Legislative Task Force brought some clarity and public focus to the previously quiet discussion on managed care in Arkansas. Although there is presently no consensus on what type of reform to adopt, the task force made it clear that we can expect some type of managed care for Arkansas’ traditional Medicaid population. Notably, the discussion and votes from the members of the task force highlighted the extent of the conflict over the type of managed care under consideration.  After some unsuccessful wrangling over voting procedures, task force members were asked to support either Option 1, the "full-risk" managed care for the behavioral health (BH) and developmental disabilities (DD) populations, which has been championed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson; or Option 3, the "DiamondCare" plan, a broader "managed fee-for-service" (MFFS) model that was introduced and supported by a group of legislators. In a voice vote where members could choose only Option 1 or 3, eight voted for Option 1, the governor’s plan, while seven voted for Option 3, DiamondCare. But it took nine votes to make a recommendation to the full Legislature, so the meeting ended without any consensus on which option is most appropriate for Arkansas.  Given the criticism of the governor’s plan that was voiced at the start of the last meeting by Sen. Keith Ingram (D-West Memphis), the divided vote on managed care wa...
Source: Arkansas Business - Health Care - Category: American Health Source Type: news