You have less than a week to weigh in on Ohio Medicaid changes

Jul. 25--You have less than one week left to suggest ways the state of Ohio could shake up the rules for how private insurance companies manage billions in state dollars.

The DeWine administration is rebidding all of the contracts it has with private Medicaid plans and is seeking public feedback.

Dayton-based CareSource, which the state has paid more than $31 billion since fiscal year 2012, is among insurers that will once again need to win their contract with Ohio Department of Medicaid.

The last day to give feedback is July 31.

Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor, covers nearly 1 in 4 Ohioans.

In Ohio, most Medicaid dollars are not directly paid out to doctors and hospitals. Instead, 90 percent of the nearly 3 million Ohioans on Medicaid are enrolled in private insurance plans and the state pays those insurance plans a flat rate per person per month.

The majority of the money that the state pays to the insurance companies is then paid out on medical claims. For 2018, CareSource reported spending about 91 percent of its revenue on care.

The state is now seeking feedback on what changes it should make to the agreements it has with private insurance companies and the state will then re-select which insurance companies it works with. The five insurance companies that manage Ohio Medicaid plans are now CareSource, Molina, Paramount, UnitedHealthcare and Buckeye.

Feedback is being sought about what benefits are most helpful, how individual care should be coordinated, how the insurance companies can communicate with providers and members, and about how complaints are filed and insurers' decisions are appealed.

Anyone that would like to share their experience with the current Medicaid plan or share ideas and solutions for the new program can submit feedback online.

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