JACKON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi’s Medicaid agency said it won’t immediately lift caps on the number of times a patient can visit a doctor, or the number of drug prescriptions a patient can receive.
The agency announced earlier this month that the limit of one physician visit per month and five prescriptions at a time would stay for now. Patients covered under managed care programs may be eligible for more physician visits or prescriptions. The announcement comes despite assurances made to lawmakers during this year’s legislative session that such limits would end.
Medicaid Director Drew Snyder tells the Clarion Ledger that the agency is still studying if it can make changes that won’t cause budget overruns.
“There is a lot of support among legislators and within the division to relax visit limits, but there is also a recognition that the Medicaid program should be operating within its appropriation,” Snyder said in a statement. “We are examining ways to responsibly implement a policy change that is affordable today and would be sustainable over time.”
Some proposals would have lifted the caps by law, but legislators approved a final version of the bill that allows the agency to decide. Despite those changes, the final title of the bill that will become law July 1 still said “delete the annual limit on physician visits” and “delete the monthly prescription limit for Medicaid beneficiaries.”
“Both houses were under the opinion that we were not giving the Division of Medicaid a choice in the matter,” said state Rep. Becky Currie, a Brookhaven Republican and nurse. “So I’d like to know what happened to the bill after it passed both chambers that now gives discretion to the Division of Medicaid.”
Senate Medicaid Committee Chairman Brice Wiggins, a Pascagoula Republican, says lawmakers intended that the caps be lifted. He says studies show limiting physician visits hasn’t saved money. Wiggins also noted that testimony, including from advisers appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant, said removing the caps could save money and improve health.
“I certainly hope there will not be a decision to not follow or implement the law that the Legislature passed, because it was the intent that that take place,” Wiggins said. “If they are not willing to implement that at this time, what is the basis for that and why?”
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Information from: The Clarion Ledger, http://www.clarionledger.com
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