FRANKFORT, Ky. — A couple of proposed changes could be coming to Medicaid in Kentucky.
Two plans passed a Senate committee on Tuesday – one eliminates copays for patients, meaning they will no longer have to pay the fee to their physician.
Supporters of the plan said it will save hospitals money because the copays cost more to process than they take in.
The state would swallow the estimated $11 million it brings in.
Another plan tackles managed care organizations (MCO’s) – groups that offer Medicaid insurance programs.
Customers would have less options by reducing them to three, but supporters argue they have no choice but to protect the system from mismanagement and ethical questions about whether the Beshear administration has given preferential treatment to political cronies.
It’s an accusation the governor’s supporters refute.
“I think the time is really upon us to take that responsibility and to lay that groundwork and to set some rules,” Sen. Julie Raque Adams (R) Senate District 36, said.
Republican Senator Ralph Alvarado added, “We’ve given an opportunity for the executive branch to handle these issues and, frankly, in my opinion, they haven’t handled it well. So I think that we have to start injecting this.”
An estimated 40,000 Kentucky Medicaid patients have been treated for COVID-19 at a cost of $119 million.
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
►Contact reporter Chris Williams at cwilliams@whas11.com. Follow him on Twitter (@chriswnews) and Facebook.