Lawmakers asking Bentley to delay Medicaid transformation contracts

MONTGOMERY — Citing costs and the recent exit of some key players, several Alabama lawmakers are rethinking their 2013 legislation to overhaul how Medicaid is delivered to nearly 1 million patients in the state.

The Legislative Contract Review Committee said Thursday it is asking Gov. Robert Bentley not to move forward with two contracts, one for $8.2 million, related to the creation of the regional care organization system. That’s a move that could delay or kill the transformation to a managed-care system.

Meanwhile, Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar said a third proposed regional care organization this week dropped out of the initiative. Like the previous two, it was concerned about the state’s long-term funding of Medicaid, she said.

The regional care organizations are spending millions of their dollars to set up their infrastructure.

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