Medicaid managed care takes hold in Louisiana; Florida report notes problems in longer waits for long-term care help

The first-stage of Gov. Jindal's Medicaid restructing begins today. In Florida, the legislative report casts doubt on some efforts there to revamp the system. Meanwhile, Illinois' governor is urging changes to Medicaid to help fix the state's budget. 

New Orleans Times Picayune: Louisiana Medicaid Overhaul Begins Its First Day In Operation
The first leg of Gov. Bobby Jindal's Medicaid overhaul goes live today, with more than 180,000 southeast Louisiana residents, most of them children, being shifted from the state-run insurance program to private insurance networks. ... The move overhauls much of the traditional fee-for-service system in which the state makes direct payments to health care providers who treat Medicaid patients and puts Louisiana alongside dozens of states that have implemented some kind of managed-care system for Medicaid (Barrow, 2/1).

Health News Florida/Tampa Bay Times: Florida's Shift To Private Managed Care Means Longer Medicaid Waiting Lists, Study Finds
When the Legislature decided last year to cap Medicaid funding and turn long-term care over to private managed care companies, some experts warned that growing waiting lists would drive people into expensive nursing homes. A study released Tuesday by the Legislature's own policy analysts underscores that fear. Florida has three main Medicaid programs. … Waiting lists for those programs rose 30 percent last year, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability reported. Meanwhile, the cost of the managed care program was significantly higher than the two traditional nonprofit programs (Nohlgren, 2/1). 

Reuters: Illinois Governor Urges Pension, Medicaid Changes
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn on Wednesday said the state must make changes to its pension system and to Medicaid this year, while also insisting that spending cuts alone will not fix the state's budget. ... Illinois' unfunded public pension liability of $83 billion, along with escalating costs for Medicaid, the health care program for the poor funded jointly by states and the U.S. government, have been major factors eroding the state's finances (Pierog, 2/1).