Federal Medicaid officials have approved financing plans for contracts that turn six LSU hospitals over to private companies, ensuring that care for the uninsured won’t be disrupted. However, The Shreveport Times reports Louisiana also was ordered to repay $190 million to the federal government.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says Louisiana must repay money that was paid under prior contracts—deals that the agency later rejected. CMS says the money is owed because federal officials rejected “advance lease payments” paid by private companies. The Department of Health and Hospitals says it will appeal the order to repay the federal money.
Gov. Bobby Jindal signed the contracts without first getting federal approval, which was needed because the contracts rely on Medicaid money. The state rewrote the contracts after CMS rejected financing plans in May. State Sen. Fred Mills, a member of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, says that when DHH Secretary Kathy Kliebert called him to tell him about the approval, he asked her about the up-front payments.
“She said, ‘We’ll appeal that, and a decision is probably five years away and our attorneys feel we have a real strong case,’” he recounts. “I’m not a lawyer. I said, ‘I guess congratulations on the lease, but I’m very concerned about the disallowance.’”
House Speaker Chuck Kleckley says he knows that part of the decision is being appealed, adding he is enthusiastic about the overall approval.
“I can tell you here in Lake Charles, the quality of care has dramatically approved. The access has improved. The public-private partnership has worked well for southwest Louisiana, as it has for the whole state,” Kleckley says. Read the full story.
