Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond challenged the state’s managed care Medicaid in an Oct. 22 letter to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, the agency that oversees the program.
Mr. Drummond said providers have concerns about pediatric patient care, such as lower reimbursements, withheld payments, steeper administrative costs and delays. He specifically called out “a growing bureaucracy and out-of-state corporations siphoning money away from the backbone of the children’s healthcare delivery system in Oklahoma — small, community-based providers.”
The “out-of-state corporations” Mr. Drummond referred to are managed care organizations. He said MCOs claim set-up delays hold up provider payments, but the attorney general found that explanation “wholly inadequate.”
In the letter, Mr. Drummond requested copies of the state’s contracts with Aetna Medicaid Administrators, Humana and Centene Corp.
“Ignoring the problem is not an option,” he said.
At the Becker's 5th Annual Fall Payer Issues Roundtable, taking place November 2–3 in Chicago, payer executives and healthcare leaders will come together to discuss value-based care, regulatory changes, cost management strategies and innovations shaping the future of payer-provider collaboration. Apply for complimentary registration now.