Medicaid: Managed care contracts, copay proposals make state news

State Medicaid programs -- including both managed care contracts and new copay proposals -- are making news in Ohio, California, Florida and Arizona.

Los Angeles Times: Molina Healthcare Investors Experience Whiplash
Investors in Molina Healthcare Inc. took a wild ride this week. Shares of the Long Beach-based health insurer plunged 31% Thursday after it withdrew its full-year profit forecast because of sharply higher costs in its Texas business. Shares rallied Friday nearly 30% after Molina announced that its appeal in Ohio was successful and the state will renew the company's lucrative Medicaid contract there, which analysts say accounts for more than 20% of the company's annual earnings (Terhune, 6/8). 

California Healthline: Copay Proposal For Some Drugs, Emergency Visits
The Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review last week approved a significantly scaled-down version of a copay proposal for Medi-Cal beneficiaries. The Legislature last year passed a more extensive copay proposal that was projected to save $511 million in general fund dollars for the state. It called for $5 per physician visit and $50 for an emergency department visit . In February federal health care officials nixed that plan. The current proposal would impose a copay of $3.10 for non-preferred drugs, with an exception for patients who receive those medications by mail, and a $15 copay for non-emergency use of the emergency room (Gorn, 6/11).

The Miami Herald:  Company With Fraud Record Lines Up For New Medicaid Contract
As Florida embarks on its plan to move 1.2 million Medicaid patients into private health plans, WellCare Health Plans of Tampa is widely expected to win state contracts that will shift healthcare for the poor into managed-care programs. The move is an early stage of the Medicaid reforms approved by the Legislature in 2011, pending a green light from the federal government. WellCare's decision to bid, though not unexpected, has sparked an outcry from critics who say they wonder how badly a company must act before it is banned from government contracts -; and from serving the state's most vulnerable residents (Davis, 6/10).

East Valley Tribune:  New Report:  State Medicaid Program Pays $50M Annually On Care For Ineligible Patients
Arizona's Medicaid program is paying out up to an extra $50 million a year to provide care for those who are ineligible, a new report says. The study done by the state Auditor General's Office finds a 1.1 percent error rate in cases where people were determined to qualify for the free care (Fischer, 6/11).