Proposed bills sponsored by Senator Ralph Hise and Senator Phil Berger offer real reform through free market solutions that will protect taxpayers and improve health care for Medicaid recipients.
The NC Medicaid Choice Coalition released the following statement by coalition spokesperson Taylor Griffin on Medicaid reform legislation recently filed by Sen. Ralph Hise (S.B.696) and Sen. Phil Berger (S.B.703) in the NC General Assembly:
“Legislation introduced by Sen. Hise and Sen. Berger offer real solutions to out of control Medicaid spending: reforms that include experienced traditional managed care organizations and rely on a competitive managed care market to control costs and improve health outcomes for Medicaid patients.
“The proposals offered by Senators Hise and Berger draw on the experience of 39 other states that have already embraced private sector solutions to rising Medicaid costs. North Carolina is the only state in the Southeast, and one of the few in the country, that has yet to adopt a capitated, risk-based managed care Medicaid model.
“As our recent study indicates, managed care could reduce Medicaid costs by $1.2 billion over two years. Alternative proposals that would restrict the Medicaid market to plans offered by health care providers, such as large hospitals, represent half-measures that are unlikely to achieve the benefits of a model that includes managed care. Real reform that allows private sector traditional managed care organizations to compete with provider-led plans is in the best interest of taxpayers and Medicaid recipients.”