ALBANY – The 2/23/2015 edition of Medtrade Monday included coverage of the February 15, 2015 Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Report on competitive bidding. What the coverage failed to include was any reference to the New York State (NYS) Department of Health’s (DOH’s) response to the report.
Certainly, the industry would benefit from knowing that the NYS DOH rejected the OIG recommendations.
New York’s response is noteworthy because it was so definitive in stating why DOH will not pursue competitive bidding for Medicaid services in New York. Instead, DOH will continue with its global Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) approach, which includes reducing hospitalizations, inpatient lengths of stay and inappropriate emergency room usage by strengthening care coordination, in-home post-acute care, and enrolling previously exempt populations into Medicaid managed care.
In addition, the DOH response takes issue with the savings targets included in the OIG report. Again, the industry would benefit from knowing of that concern.
I urge Medtrade Monday to consider a follow-up story that highlights some of the individual state responses to the report, which will allow the industry to fully understand the range of concerns and approaches being considered around the nation.
Andrea Smyth is interim executive director of New York Medical Equipment Providers (NYMEP), Albany, NY.