State seeks bids for managed care contracts for dual eligibles

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services released this week a request for applications to managed care companies interested in overseeing services for nearly 115,000 Ohioans who are covered by both Medicaid and Medicare (Source: “State wants bids for Medicaid, Medicare,” Columbus Dispatch, May 1, 2012).

The RFA is the lastest step the state is taking to attempt to reign in the cost of so-called “dual-eligibles,” a group of low-income seniors and disabled residents who account for about 40 percent of the state’s health spending. Last year, for example, the state spent $2.5 billion to provide services to the 182,000 dual-eligibles. 

The state’s plan calls for seven demonstration projects to be set up starting early next year in regions of three to five counties across Ohio. The regions will cover urban centers of Columbus, Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown.

The remaining 67,000 of Ohio’s dual-eligibles will stay in fee-for-service programs, although the state has indicated that they may be moved to managed care later.