Medicaid managed care systems have the potential to improve care outcomes, and providers’ bottom lines, so operators should embrace them, said LeadingAge President and CEO Larry Minnix.
“Medicaid managed care is a new way to use the money and use the resources much better in every community,” Minnix told McKnight’s at the LeadingAge convention.“The better job we do of managing the dually eligible Medicare-Medicaid people, the better their lives are and the more money the healthcare delivery system saves. We’re spending a lot of Medicaid money now and not liking a lot of what we’re getting.”
There is no turning back from a managed care model, he feels, noting “as the old proverb goes, it’s better to ride in the direction that your horse is galloping.”
A theme of the conference was refocusing LeadingAge’s members on their core mission, including serving “vulnerable, unprofitable people,” Minnix noted.
“We don’t want to get so segmented in our service delivery system that those people are forgotten or marginalized,” he said.
From the December 01, 2013 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
