Indiana Halts Medicaid Sole-Supplier Contract–for Now

INDIANAPOLIS–State officials have decided to halt a contract to
Michigan-based J&B Medical Supply that would have made the
company the sole supplier of incontinence supplies and other
disposables for Indiana’s Medicaid program.

The state had been considering the agreement as a pilot to “see
how it worked and then make an ultimate decision,” according to
Indiana Family and Social Services Administration spokesman Dennis
Rosebrough.

But after drawing fire from opponents–including the Association
of Indiana Home Medical Equipment Services–the state changed its
position. “As we floated that balloon, a number of people raised
issues, and so we made a decision that rather than go down a
troublesome road, we would not do that,” Rosebrough told
HomeCare Monday. Instead, he added, the state will issue a
traditional request for proposal from both in- and out-of-state
companies in the next few months.

Judy Bunn, executive director of AIHMES, which represents more
than 80 companies in the state, had expressed concerns in a
newspaper article published Tuesday that the state’s original
decision would be bad for both home care businesses and patients.
“There are companies who will go out of business or have to lay off
people,” Bunn told the Fort Wayne News-Sentinal. “The
patient will lose the choice of providers and choice of
products.”

The newspaper said that under such a contract, state residents
covered by traditional Medicaid would not have been able to
purchase incontinence, catheter or ostomy supplies from an Indiana
home care business.

The state currently spends about $4 million on such supplies for
people on Medicaid, and in an effort to save money, is committed to
giving the contract to one provider, the News Sentinel
reported. According to Rosebrough, the state did not have to
request bids for the contract because it was for a one-year pilot
program.

Bunn said AIHMES, which would like to bid on the contract
itself, is willing to work with the state. “If they have a specific
dollar amount they are going to save, let us know. We are certainly
looking at that to help them realize the savings,” she told the
newspaper.

The American Association for Homecare said it alerted other
state HME association leaders about the issue after receiving a
heads-up from AIHMES Board Director George Kucka of Fairmeadows
Home Health Care in Schererville, Ind.

“This very same issue may emerge in other states,” AAHomecare
said.