Proposals to charge Medicaid patients copays for some health care services and prescription drugs fizzled in the Louisiana Legislature, including a measure backed by Gov. John Bel Edwards.
The Associated Press reports hearings on three Medicaid copay bills sponsored by Republicans were scrapped Thursday in the House Health and Welfare Committee, including on the bill by Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Winnfield, which is supported by the Democratic governor.
“On a bipartisan basis we lacked support for the bill,” Edwards said.
The proposal would allow charges on Louisiana’s Medicaid recipients up to $8 per visit for seeking non-emergency care in hospital emergency rooms and up to $8 for “non-preferred” prescription drugs.
McFarland said he wanted to discourage costly treatments that could be provided more cheaply in a doctor’s office.
“The intent of this bill is to use copays to provide incentives to encourage people to get care in appropriate settings,” he told the committee, before acknowledging the opposition and pulling the proposal from consideration.
Some opponents criticize copays as discouraging the poor to seek needed health services. The strongest criticism, however, came from hospitals and other health providers who say copays are the equivalent of cuts to their Medicaid payments because they’re unenforceable.
The Louisiana Hospital Association released a statement describing Medicaid copays as “uncollectable” and a “huge administrative burden.” It said health care providers can’t deny providing emergency room care to people under the federal poverty line, whether they pay or not. But the state would pay less for Medicaid care, assuming the copay.
The organization said copays don’t discourage people from using the ER for routine health care, particularly in areas like Louisiana with a limited number of primary care doctors willing to see Medicaid patients.
Edwards and McFarland said they hoped to continue conversations with the health department, other lawmakers and the health care providers on the bill.
The governor said he wanted to promote personal responsibility among Medicaid patients, while also encouraging them to visit primary care physicians for routine care. He noted GOP lawmakers had urged him to include copays as part of his plan to expand Louisiana’s Medicaid program.
