Louisiana's Privatized Medicaid Leaves Many Confused - Becker's Hospital Review

Louisiana’s Privatized Medicaid Leaves Many Confused

Louisiana’s newly instituted Medicaid managed care program has run into some early problems, as hospitals, physicians and Medicaid beneficiaries have flooded the state’s Department of Health and Hospitals with complaints of operational difficulties and general confusion as to how the program works, according to an Advocate report.

In November, CMS approved Bayou Health in which each Medicaid enrollee selects one of five health plans, and those managed care networks are then responsible for coordinating that person’s healthcare.

Bayou Health goes live on Feb. 1, and only 12 percent of eligible Medicaid beneficiaries have enrolled in one of the five health plans. Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration will start assigning the remaining recipients to one of the private plans.

DHH Secretary Bruce Greenstein said the state is conducting more education and is adding more hours to its call center to make the transition smoother. “This is a pretty major change in the way we do business,” he said in the report.

Louisiana’s Privatized Medicaid Leaves Many Confused

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