Saving Medicaid and In-home Health

SynCare stood to earn up to $6.8 million annually through a state contract, depending on the number of assessments it completed. Based on the number of assessments completed in 2010, SynCare was projected to earn about $5.5 million in the first year of the now-aborted contract.

This was a waste of tax payers money and a ploy to purposely allow many people needing services to fall through the cracks. The issues with the changes in the medicaid program started before SynCare was hired. Client referrals are still not being processed in a timely fashion.

There were previous employees with the Department of Health and Senior Services that went to work for not only SynCare Mo but some of the in-home health agencies; and this promotes an unfair playing field. Spend down clients are failing to met spend down amounts because their portion is more than half of their income and the case workers that handle Spend Down are hard to reach and do not communicate the changes in services to clients in a timely manner.

Messages left with the overwhelmed REV teams are not being returned and the calls and new client referrals are as sloppy as they where when SynCare attempted to do them. Now you are saying that spend down clients can not use their lab work from hospitals to met their spend down and there are people with many aliments that need medications, and help in their homes. This results in clients not being able to met their spend down.

Cutting funds to the Medicaid program and all these changes are not only hurting our sick, elderly and disabled but jeopardizing jobs for the health care providers in the community. Most agencies have an abundance of Registered nurses that are qualified to complete client referrals and this right was taken away and would allow some relief to the state workers. Paying the agency nurses is much cheaper than the money the State Spent with SynCare a company with no expertise in this field. 9,300 homebound patients are still waiting for Medicaid services in the wake of the firing of embattled state contractor SynCare, state officials told lawmakers on Thursday; and this is a problem.

Now the State is back to square one with a back log they blame of SynCare and this needs to be handled most expeditiously.