Good news arrived today for Mecklenburg County
The county won a reprieve from an earlier order that
stripped Mecklenburg of its control of more than $200 million in federal Medicaid money.
Now it has a second chance to show that it can successfully launch a new operation
to administer that money under new state rules.
N.C. Health and Human Services Secretary Aldona Wos reversed
her earlier ruling that had confirmed control of the program would move to
Cardinal Innovations Health Solutions in Kannapolis .
Mecklenburg will have to be up and running by
March 1, and twice before then will have to demonstrate to an outside
consultant that its preparations are on track.
Wos’s decision is good news for Mecklenburg .
The county stood to waste $3 million it had already spent preparing, and dozens
of employees faced being let go. Most importantly, residents with mental
health, substance abuse and developmental disabilities might now continue to be
part of a system that is overseen locally. Credit goes to Charlotte
lawyer Dan Bishop, who represented Mecklenburg
in its dealings with the state; to top county staff; and to commissioners, who
in a unanimous, bipartisan vote decided to fight the original order.
There are at least two risks still pending. The first is
that as part of the settlement, Mecklenburg
agreed to give up the program, and its rights to appeal, if the outside
consultant finds the county is running behind. The second is that taxpayers
could be at risk if the county keeps the program but then fails to monitor
Medicaid claims closely enough. The state’s whole effort exists, after all, to
rein in costs.
It’s not surprising that Mecklenburg
commissioners learned Wednesday’s news not from Bishop or county staff but from
reporters asking questions about it. The county’s communications troubles
continue. On this day, however, applause over the outcome drowns out criticism
of how it was communicated.
-- Taylor
Batten
Posts
3 comments:
"Good news for taxpayers"?
Where do you think the federal funds come from?
I still don't see how this is good news for Mecklenburg taxpayers.
Why would we want county staff in control of 200 million dollars?
"It’s not surprising that Mecklenburg commissioners learned Wednesday’s news not from Bishop or county staff but from reporters asking questions about it."
This is NOT accurate.
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