HHSC now requires Medicaid recipients to have proof-of-coverage in the form a plastic card, which replaces proof-of-coverage letters in Texas. The change purportedly will save $30 million over four years. An excerpt:
Until this month, the state spent nearly $1 million a month to print and mail paper forms that poor people on Medicaid could take to the doctor’s office as proof they’re enrolled and qualify for coverage.
The majority of Texas Medicaid recipients are enrolled in managed-care plans, and the percentage will soon skyrocket after budget-cutting provisions that lawmakers recently passed. Goodman said even if they now receive a card from their private insurance company, they’ll still receive a new plastic card from the state.
The cards have a magnetic strip on the back. Eventually, after further upgrades, they should allow recipients to tap into their own electronic medical records, Goodman said.
In other news, the Texas Health Care Association (THCA) recently issued a statement about new Medicare cuts and more cuts to come:
“For nursing home patients and those who provide their care, the news out of Washington in terms of new Medicare cuts from CMS and the possibility of more big cuts later from Congress is ominous,” THCA president Tim Graves said in a press release. “We have already endured deep Medicare cuts passed as part of health care reform, and already face rising patient acuity, shrinking length of stay, escalating costs, and we have the lowest operating margin of all provider groups.”