Florida Names New Medicaid Director

Tallahassee, Fla.

As preparations for competitive bidding on Medicaid DME move forward in the Sunshine State, the program will have a new director. Tom Arnold, who has been deputy secretary at the Florida Department of Health, has been appointed deputy secretary/Medicaid director of the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which manages Florida Medicaid.

Arnold, who was to assume his new position Aug. 1, will lead the program through the implementation of competitive bidding, which was included in proviso language in the state’s appropriations budget. The provision calls for a contract on Medicaid DME — excluding customized wheelchairs, colostomy and ostomy supplies, orthotics and prosthetics — with payments at no more than 80 percent of current Medicaid rates. Signed into law earlier this year, the provision is in the hands of AHCA, now charged with formulating proposals to put the bidding process in place.

At press time, members of the Florida Association of Medical Equipment Services (FAMES) were in talks with state officials about the procedure. “I can’t get into specifics, but there are different interpretations as to what the statute is all about,” said Javier Talamo, FAMES vice president and a health care attorney at Miami-based Kravitz & Talamo.

For breaking news, go to www.homecaremonday.com, the electronic news service of the home medical equipment industry.