Subcommittee examines Medicaid pilot program

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A Senate subcommittee is considering limiting the scope of a Medicaid mandatory managed care pilot program after lobbyists raised concerns Thursday that the plan was too broad.

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The current plan would be implemented in Charleston, Florence, Greenville, Horry and Richland counties, and in one rural county designated by the department, over the next five years.

"When you take five of the largest counties in South Carolina and one rural county, that's not a pilot, that's a program," said John Ruoff, research director for South Carolina Fair Share, a consumer interest group.

Under the program, Medicaid recipients would be enrolled in a health maintenance organization or with primary care case management providers.

One of the hang-ups with the bill is the issue of a joint legislative oversight committee to oversee the pilot. Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, said Health and Human Services Department Director Robert Kerr already has begun to implement some of the pilot's policies without the General Assembly's consent.

Sen. James Ritchie, R-Spartanburg, asked Kerr to lay out a set of perimeters so lawmakers could understand how to measure the success of the pilot.

--From the Friday, February 6, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle