Feds clear way for Fla. to enroll Medicaid recipients into private plans

The waiver approved by HHS means elderly people who need long-term care can be put in programs that will offer services in their homes and help them stay out of nursing homes, the Associated Press reports.

The Associated Press: Fla. Moving Ahead With Medicaid Privatization
Federal health officials gave Florida the green light to enroll long-term care patients into a statewide Medicaid privatization program. But Gov. Rick Scott noted Monday he is awaiting a final signoff from the feds to privatize the program statewide for most of the state's nearly 3 million Medicaid recipients. ... The waiver approved on Friday will allow Florida to enroll patients who require long-term care into managed care programs that will offer services in their home or other community programs to keep them out of nursing homes. Long-term care patients are typically a fragile population with extensive medical needs (Kennedy, 2/4).

Health News Florida: Feds Give OK; Medicaid's Frail Elderly To Enter HMOs
Federal health officials have given Florida permission to enroll elderly, sick Medicaid patients into private managed-care plans, Gov. Rick Scott's office announced on Monday. The three-year waiver of federal Medicaid rules can begin July 1, according to the letter from two officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the federal Department of Health and Human Services (Gentry, 2/5).