A top official at the Agency for Health Care Administration on Tuesday objected to a nursing-home industry proposal to exclude some seniors from the state's Medicaid managed-care program.
The Florida Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes, is urging lawmakers to allow seniors who need intensive long-term care in nursing facilities to receive Medicaid-funded services outside of managed-care plans. But Beth Kidder, interim Medicaid director at the Agency for Health Care Administration, told the House Health & Human Services Committee on Tuesday that the agency disagrees with the nursing-home industry's proposal.
Lawmakers in 2011 approved a Medicaid overhaul that included requiring most beneficiaries to enroll in HMOs or other types of managed-care plans. Part of the concept involved using managed-care companies to provide services to seniors in communities, rather than in nursing homes.
Deborah Franklin, a Florida Health Care Association official, told the House committee that the industry group supports the concept of serving seniors in their homes and communities. But she said managed-care plans are not appropriate for many seniors who, because of their conditions, will stay in nursing homes for long periods.
