Arkansas Advocates Fear Medicaid Overhaul

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Advocates for the developmentally disabled expressed concerns to legislators Wednesday that an overhaul of the state’s Medicaid system could hurt some mentally disabled Arkansans.
Katy Carver, executive director of the Arkansas Waiver Association, told the Hospital and Medicaid Study Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council that a proposed model for creating developmentally disabled centers across the state could lead to cuts in services and the creation of a new level of bureaucracy between patients and the care they need.
Charlie Green, director of the state Division of Developmental Disabilities, told the panel that those concerns are groundless.
Gov. Mike Beebe has received a go-ahead from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a proposal for overhauling the way health care providers in the state are reimbursed for their services. Beebe has said he wants to switch from a system in which providers are paid for each service to a system in which providers are paid for bundled episodes of care.