Low-income seniors living in and around Orlando will be the first entrants into the state’s Medicaid managed care program.
The state will begin an outreach program in the next few months to get eligible seniors enrolled. It’s the latest move in the state’s effort to save money by effectively privatizing the Medicaid program.
Seven health plans stepped up one by one to sign their contracts with the state Agency for Healthcare Administration and Secretary Liz Dudek. Starting in August, United, Humana, Molina, American Eldercare, Amigroup Florida, and Coventry Health will work with local nursing homes and long-term care facilities to care for the low-income seniors on Medicaid.
“For the most part, the services they’ll receive are non-medical services. Custodial care," said Justin Senior, AHCA's Deputy Medicaid Secretary. "They can receive those services in a skilled nursing facility, or in a home-and-community based setting, where they’ll get personal care assistants, home health aids, private duty nursing help with chore work—all the things they’d need to live independently.”
Florida is still awaiting federal approval to move an additional three million people into managed care in an effort to control costs in the Medicaid program.
