Excerpt from: Tampa Bay Times (click for full article)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has granted Florida permission to transfer management of a part of its Medicaid program to private companies. Seniors who utilize Medicaid for their long-term care coverage, mainly nursing home stays, will begin working with managed care companies.
The state first asked HHS to grant the waiver needed to privatize Medicaid back in 2011. The federal government had until the end of the week to say what it was going to do about this long-term care request. The bigger goal of privatizing the general Medicaid population requires a different waiver, which is still pending.
“I am appreciative that HHS approved one of our two important Medicaid waivers, and that they have done so before the February 7th deadline," Gov. Rick Scott said in a news release. "The additional flexibility provided through this waiver helps improve our current system, and HHS approval allows us to begin implementing changes to our current Medicaid program."
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