MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama House on Thursday unanimously passed major reforms to the state’s Medicaid program that are estimated to save the state $1.5 billion over the next 10 years. The bill now goes to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.
Medicaid currently comprises 37 percent of the state’s ailing general fund budget, the largest portion. According to the Alabama Policy Institute, the state’s Medicaid expenditures increased by 53% between 2001 and 2013, and as the state’s senior population increases, costs are expected to grow even further.
The bill passed Thursday seeks to place a check on that growth by reforming the way Medicaid patients receive care.
The savings, calculated by a national actuarial consulting company, assume a 3 percent growth every year in the program, and will come from new Integrated Care Networks (ICNs) contracting with Medicaid to provide long-term care under a capitated system.
Capitation means the providers will be given a set dollar amount to treat each patient in their care.
The bill would also allow the nursing home-care to home-based care ratio to increase from 75/25 to 50/50. The ICNs must be in place by October 1st, 2018.
“Our state has an obligation to provide crucial long-term care services for the elderly eligible for Medicaid coverage, while at the same time finding ways to protect taxpayers from cost increases,” said the bill’s sponsor Senator Greg Reed. “My bill will help us better care for patients and cut spending.”
This is Senator Reed’s second major Medicaid reform in the last several years. In 2012 a bill he sponsored to establish Regional Care Organizations across the state operating under a similar premise to the ICNs.
“Moving to integrated care networks provides an opportunity to reform our long-term care system in a way that assures high quality care at lower cost in a community setting,” said Dr. Don Williamson, State Health Officer and chair of the Medicaid Transition Task Force.
Savings in long-term care services such as nursing homes and in-home assistance will become particularly important as baby boomers begin to retire and require more healthcare.
“The population of Alabamians age 70 and older is expected to rise quickly over the next ten years,” said April Weaver, Chairwoman of the House Health Committee. “In fact, close to 10,000 seniors are projected to join the Medicaid rolls by 2028. This legislation will improve the quality of long-term care, while gradually bending the cost curve down to reduce costs for Medicaid.”
While these savings won’t be realized immediately and don’t solve the current budget crisis, they could go a long way toward making the federally-mandated program more sustainable in the long term.
Like this article? Hate it? Follow me and let me know how you feel on Twitter!
— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed major reforms to the state’s Medicaid program that are estimated to save the state $1.5 billion over the next 10 years.
The savings, calculated by a national actuarial consulting company, assume a 3 percent growth every year in the program, and will come from new Integrated Care Networks (ICNs) contracting with Medicaid to provide long-term care under a capitated system.
Capitation means the providers will be given a set dollar amount to treat each patient in their care.
The bill would also allow the nursing home-care to home-based care ratio to increase from 75/25 to 50/50. The ICNs must be in place by October 1st, 2018.
“Our state has an obligation to provide crucial long-term care services for the elderly eligible for Medicaid coverage, while at the same time finding ways to protect taxpayers from cost increases,” said the bill’s sponsor Senator Greg Reed. “My bill will help us better care for patients and cut spending.”
This is Senator Reed’s second major Medicaid reform in the last several years. In 2012 a bill he sponsored to establish Regional Care Organizations across the state operating under a similar premise to the ICNs.
Savings in long-term care services such as nursing homes and in-home assistance will become particularly important as baby boomers begin to retire and require more healthcare—the number of people aged 75 and older is expected to double by 2028.
“This is projected to add 9,000 more seniors to the Medicaid long-term care roles,” said Senator Gerald Dial, who chairs the Senate Health & Human Services committee. “I am proud to support Senator Reed’s bill to save more than a billion dollars and allow for more home-based care.”
While these savings won’t be realized immediately and don’t solve the current budget crisis, they could go a long way toward making the federally-mandated program more sustainable in the long term.
The bill will now be considered by the House where it is being sponsored by Rep. April Weaver. It is not expected to meet significant resistance.
Like this article? Hate it? Follow me and let me know how you feel on Twitter!
— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
The 2012 Republican National Convention has come and gone, and let me tell you — it was a busy week! Those who read my last post here on Yellowhammer will know that I had originally committed to provide YHP readers with daily updates during the week’s events. However, that goal quickly became unattainable after I discovered just how busy we would be in Tampa. I made a commitment to Cliff and the Yellowhammer readers to write about my experiences. So while not live from Tampa, here is a recap of my week as an Alternate Delegate at my first RNC.
Our daily delegation breakfasts started around 7:30 a.m. each morning with a variety of speakers that included New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Alabama Congressman Artur Davis, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, Texas Governor Rick Perry, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and many others. Yes, those were just our breakfast speakers. I can’t count how many times I overheard from delegates from other states who said, “You got all those people to speak at your breakfasts?” and then lamented about how the best speaker at their breakfasts were not as impressive or high profile.
As a quick side note, I met three U.S. Secret Service agents who had Alabama connections; one was from Tuskegee, one was a former University of Alabama football player, and one had family in Alabama and trained under former Alabama Department of Public Safety Director Chris Murphy (who was a Secret Service agent before serving as DPS Director). The Secret Service, Florida State Troopers, and countless local law enforcement did a great job of protecting all the delegates, alternates, and guests at the RNC and made everything run smoothly for everyone and I’m very appreciative of their service!
After breakfast and the various speakers, officials and staff with the Alabama delegation would update us on the various days’ events. As you can imagine with an event the size of the RNC, last minute schedule changes are common and the staff did a great job of keeping us informed and up-to-date. Our delegation had a busy agenda the entire week, filled with receptions, meetings, and finally ended up at the Tampa Bay Times Forum for the RNC’s evening sessions of speakers and Party business. Alabama was invited to numerous events, one of which I especially enjoyed was a joint event at Raymond James Stadium with 6 other southern states (Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina & South Carolina). It was great opportunity to meet fellow Republicans from surrounding southern states.
The nightly RNC sessions provided a great opportunity to hear directly from various elected officials, party activists and every day citizens about the impact of the last 3 ½ years of the failed policies of President Obama. Some of the most compelling speakers to me were Ann Romney, Mia Love (a Utah Congressional Candidate), former Congressman Artur Davis, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio. Then, of course we heard directly from Congressman Paul Ryan and Governor Mitt Romney as they accepted the Republican Party’s nominations for Vice President and President respectively. Congressman Ryan’s remarks were excellent and I’m excited that someone with such grasp of the very real dangers to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the federal budget will be serving alongside Governor Romney.
When Governor Romney took the stage on Thursday night to accept the nomination, the excitement from the previous three days had reached its peak and we were all ready to hear from the man himself. Governor Romney outlined his vision for America; how we can again become the leader of new industry and technology, create new jobs, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, once again returning to responsible foreign policy and tackling debt and learning to live within our means.
After such a jam-packed week of events and speakers, I am certain one thing: Republicans, from all over this country, are united in our support of the Romney-Ryan ticket and making Barack Obama a one term president.
Adam Thompson is an Alternate Delegate for Mitt Romney and a member of the Alabama Republican Party State Executive Committee. He and his wife reside in Pike Road, Alabama. Adam generously contributed his time at the RNC to keep Yellowhammer readers up to speed from on the ground in Tampa, FL.