Our Alaska Medicaid payment system is broken. The executive director of a Wasilla retirement community told Alaska lawmakers this spring that the state Medicaid office at one point owed more than $300,000. When the state finally started paying its bills, some checks arrived without any statements attached. "We don't even know what the checks are for," she told a House Committee.
At the other extreme of government paperwork, another service provider told of receiving 160 pages of codes, data and information to go along with a $150,000 payment.
The failure of the state's new Medicaid payment system has been a disaster not just for hospitals and large medical practices but for many self-employed Alaskans, including health care professionals who work with vulnerable children. Excuses and promises to do better are not enough. The governor's office needs to publicly and strongly make it a priority to fix the problems.
In the meantime, many health care professionals are struggling financially.
An Anchorage speech therapist told legislators she had to take out a personal loan to stay afloat because of the state's failure to pay its Medicaid bills.
Another provider reminded lawmakers that ethically she cannot discontinue services to her young patients, but because of the state's failure to pay its bills she essentially has "extended a loan to the state."
Some health care providers -- many of them small business owners -- had to wait months to be paid, if at all, since the state switched to the new system last fall.
The inability of the state and its contractor to pay in full and on time forced an occupational and speech therapist in Fairbanks to use her savings and then to draw money out of her children's college savings account.
The director of the Alaska Behavioral Health Association told the House committee that more than 50 of its members are "on the ropes" financially because of late and missing payments.
Reported back-payments owed to members of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association totaled tens of millions, the group's president told legislators.
While the state says it is working to fix the problem, Alaska hospitals, doctors, clinics, nurses and other providers are sifting through stacks of paper -- 3 to 4 feet high at one hospital -- trying to figure out what they have been paid and what is still missing.
It's inexcusable that the state can't properly manage a $1.5-billion-a-year program where the federal government puts up most of the money.
The state's Medicaid payment system was 25 years old and needed to change. The new system, which started up last October, was three years behind schedule. That delay alone was a warning to state administrators that the system was in trouble and that they needed to take extra precautions to protect health care providers and patients statewide.
A state official told lawmakers in February that he hopes all back-payments will be covered in the next few months. Meanwhile, the Medicaid office is advancing funds to providers. But several providers told legislators they are wary of taking the estimated payments for fear of having to pay back some of the money if further review contradicts the advance check.
This is a bad situation that is not getting better soon enough.
The administration needs to devote more attention to solving this problem and making sure Alaskans are paid for their work. That attention has to come from the governor's office. We must ensure Alaskans receive adequate health care. The Alaskans working to provide that care deserve to be paid and paid on time. We can, and must, do better.
Byron Mallott is running for governor as the Alaska Democratic Party nominee.
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