Florida Medicaid Providers Slow ‘Titanic’ Reform Plan

TALLAHASEE, Fla. — Florida HME providers pitched a fierce
battle last week against Medicaid reform legislation that could
devastate the state’s industry, and their efforts paid off —
at least they hope.

In a series of urgent appeals April 15 for providers throughout
the state to “call, fax and email” their legislators, Sean
Schwinghammer, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Home
Care Services, likened the
proposed legislation to “the Titanic running at full
speed.”

Under House Bill 7223, Florida’s Medicaid population of 2.7
million — now served by approximately 1,000 HME companies,
according to Schwinghammer — would be moved into health
maintenance organizations, and the state would contract with only
three to 10 HME providers for each of six geographic areas. All
other providers would be eliminated from serving Medicaid
beneficiaries.

Lawmakers have said the plan would be a money-saver for the
state’s Medicaid program, which has seen its costs balloon to a
staggering $19 billion a year. But at what cost to the rest of the
system? FAHCS and other organizations charged that the House plan,
which would reduce the number of providers to 60 or fewer, would
likely place Medicaid beneficiaries in peril. They also predicted
that as many as 800 HME companies could close, resulting in a loss
of some 10,000 jobs.

“That’s a big deal in a state with the second-to-highest
unemployment in the country,” Schwinghammer said.

Introduced April 6 and quickly scheduled for a Thursday
afternoon vote, the bill, which House leaders had originally said
would not be open to amendments or exemptions — “not for the
elderly, incontinent waiver patients, developmentally disabled
patients, children, etc.,” Schwinghammer said — will now be
amended and voted on today.

“It is the Miami-Dade County delegation that has held up the
bill to give us a chance to make it better,” he said in a Friday
afternoon update. “We have worked closely with certain
representatives who are going to the mat for the small and medium
providers who are the bulk of our membership and the vast majority
of those who provide care to our state.”

Schwinghammer said that if the amended legislation passes, the
Senate must come up with a companion bill; then, both chambers
would create a compromise bill, which, if passed, would need to
gain the signature of the governor to become law.

The Medicaid proposal is the latest slam against the state’s HME
providers. Last year, Blue Cross/Blue Shield dropped
hundreds of providers from its program and contracted instead
with regional companies to provide care and services to Florida
beneficiaries.

For more information on the fight against Florida H.B. 7223,
check www.fahcs.org.