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The Executive Council has a huge Medicaid contract to ponder

The Executive Council is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a new Medicaid contract worth an estimated $2.2 billion–believed to be the largest contract in state history.

But signs from an Executive Council meeting Monday suggest that vote may be pushed back.  And the state may struggle to meet its July 1 deadline.

It’s a huge contract financially, handing over several billion dollars to three managed care companies to run the state’s Medicaid program.  And it’s huge for the some 140,000 New Hampshire residents who rely on Medicaid.

Health and Human Services Commissioner Nick Toumpas says it’s a huge policy shift, too. “What we are doing is we are engaging these organizations to help us administer the program,” Toumpas said, “because they bring a set of perspectives, techniques that we do not have at our disposal.”

Here’s the state’s starting point:  They don’t want to do anything to compromise Medicaid services.  But they also want to save money.  How do you do both? Continue Reading →