Health News
- Bill To Cap Co-payments For Drugs Is Backed By Emotional Testimony, But Opposed By Health Insurers And Employer Groups
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. -- People with chronic conditions are often denied the best medication for their condition because it is not on their insurance plan's preferred formulary, which makes the co-payment more for...
- Medicaid's Move To Managed Care Delayed Until Nov. 1; Hospitals Need More Time To Sign Contracts
The move to managed care, which the state has touted as the answer to improve the quality of its Medicaid system and solve a budget deficit, has been delayed by a month in response to the Kentucky Hospital Association saying hospitals need more time to...
- Feds Ok Managed-care Medicaid; Firms Advertise For Enrollees
The move to managed care for Kentucky's Medicaid patients is one step further to being implemented. The federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services have approved the state's plan to have three managed-care organizations provide care for...
- Bidders To Manage Medicaid Unknown; Contracts July 1?
It is not known who bid on taking over the work, but Kentucky is advancing plans to turn Medicaid over to managed-care organizations. The move, which will allow the organizations to take over the day-to-day operations of Medicaid in the state, is meant...
- Epilepsy Monitoring Key To Proper Diagnosis
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological condition in which seizures recur. Seizures happen when nerve cells in the brain fire electrical impulses in an abnormal way. Since nerve cells in the various parts of the brain have different functions, the outward...
Health News
Some worry that patient care will get shortchanged as Kentucky Medicaid moves to managed care
While moving Kentucky's Medicaid patients to managed care for will likely reduce costs to the taxpayers, patient care shouldn't be shortchaged in the effort to save a buck, Deb McGrath writes in an op-ed piece in The Courier-Journal.
"It is critical for quality patient care to always remain a priority," writes McGrath, executive director of the Epilepsy Foundation of Kentuckiana. "All citizens, including the 540,000 Kentuckians under the new managed care plans, deserve access to the best possible care recommended by their doctors."
McGrath is concerned about the "fail first" policy, also known as step therapy. "In this practice, the insurer will initially cover only the least costly medication in any drug class, forcing doctors to prescribe these medications first," she writes. "This is problematic because many times there are different medications that the physician feels would be the most effective treatment."
The policy can adversely affect Kentucky's 90,000 patients who have epilepsy, a disease that comprises 40 different seizure types and epileptic syndromes. "Fail first is not something a person with epilepsy wants to hear, especially when this policy can compromise their well-being and even their life," McGrath writes. "I urge Gov. Steve Beshear, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, our state legislators and the new managed care organizations to keep patient care in mind as they get ready to implement this new system on Nov. 1." (Read more)
- Bill To Cap Co-payments For Drugs Is Backed By Emotional Testimony, But Opposed By Health Insurers And Employer Groups
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. -- People with chronic conditions are often denied the best medication for their condition because it is not on their insurance plan's preferred formulary, which makes the co-payment more for...
- Medicaid's Move To Managed Care Delayed Until Nov. 1; Hospitals Need More Time To Sign Contracts
The move to managed care, which the state has touted as the answer to improve the quality of its Medicaid system and solve a budget deficit, has been delayed by a month in response to the Kentucky Hospital Association saying hospitals need more time to...
- Feds Ok Managed-care Medicaid; Firms Advertise For Enrollees
The move to managed care for Kentucky's Medicaid patients is one step further to being implemented. The federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services have approved the state's plan to have three managed-care organizations provide care for...
- Bidders To Manage Medicaid Unknown; Contracts July 1?
It is not known who bid on taking over the work, but Kentucky is advancing plans to turn Medicaid over to managed-care organizations. The move, which will allow the organizations to take over the day-to-day operations of Medicaid in the state, is meant...
- Epilepsy Monitoring Key To Proper Diagnosis
Epilepsy is a chronic neurological condition in which seizures recur. Seizures happen when nerve cells in the brain fire electrical impulses in an abnormal way. Since nerve cells in the various parts of the brain have different functions, the outward...