HOUSE BILL No. 6260

 

June 22, 2006, Introduced by Reps. Garfield, Shaffer, Pastor, Gosselin, Vander Veen, Palmer, Plakas and Meyer and referred to the Committee on Health Policy.

 

     A bill to amend 1939 PA 280, entitled

 

"The social welfare act,"

 

(MCL 400.1 to 400.119b) by adding sections 111l, 111m, 111n, and

 

111o; and to repeal acts and parts of acts.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 111l. (1) A single state agency shall be responsible for

 

medicaid health care policy. Through a competitive bid process, the

 

state shall establish a contract for medicaid claim processing. A

 

company bidding on or participating in the ongoing contract for

 

medicaid claim processing may not control 15% or more of the

 

state's health care coverage market at any time, excluding the

 

medicaid and medicare programs.

 

     (2) The company selected under this section must have

 


extensive experience in processing health care claims, including

 

claims for pharmaceuticals and long-term care. The company selected

 

must have extensive experience in the principles of managed care.

 

     (3) Not less than 1 time each year, a company selected under

 

this section shall prepare a report detailing medicaid

 

reimbursement expenditures, administrative costs, and recovery

 

activity. The company selected under this section shall report,

 

annually, the findings described in this subsection, as well as a

 

detailed summary of reimbursement expenditures by geographic

 

regions in the state and its costs, to the single state agency

 

described in subsection (1). The single state agency shall submit

 

the report and findings to the house and senate appropriations

 

committees, the house and senate standing committees on health,

 

insurance, senior citizens, and human services issues, and the

 

attorney general.

 

     (4) A company selected under this section shall contract with

 

established groups of practitioners to provide health care

 

services. In areas where practitioner groups are limited in number,

 

the contracted company shall assist in creating independent

 

practitioner groups. The practitioner groups shall be divided into

 

primary care providers and secondary care providers. All medicaid

 

recipients shall select a primary care group to provide primary

 

care services. All referrals for secondary services shall originate

 

with the recipient's selected primary care group. The secondary

 

care provider must be a contracted practitioner.

 

     (5) The state shall create a fee schedule that establishes a

 

single fee for each medical procedure to be reimbursed by the

 


medicaid program. Cost-based fees shall not be included except for

 

diagnostic-related group fees for inpatient hospital services. This

 

fee schedule shall be the basis for the selected company's contract

 

fee negotiations. The fees established in the fee schedule shall be

 

the upper limit of the amount that may be reimbursed for a medical

 

procedure under the medicaid program. The fee schedule established

 

under this subsection must be actuarially sound. The selected

 

company shall be responsible for all provider reimbursement.

 

     (6) The state shall establish coverage policies and prices for

 

generic and selected over-the-counter pharmacy products. The state

 

shall establish, in cooperation with the selected claims processing

 

company, a pharmacy panel composed of an equal number of medical

 

practitioners and clinical pharmacists. This panel will determine

 

the generic brands and over-the-counter drug products to be covered

 

by medicaid. The pharmacy panel shall provide the company selected

 

under this subsection with its determinations and findings to be

 

used in the payment and processing of pharmacy claims.

 

     (7) The state shall establish a policy that makes it a

 

priority to allow medicaid-eligible seniors to remain in a home

 

care setting as long as it is medically appropriate to do so. The

 

state shall cover home care services for these eligible senior

 

recipients. The selected company shall contract with home care

 

providers to provide home care services.

 

     (8) The company selected under this section shall contract

 

with selected hospitals to provide inpatient hospital services.

 

Diagnostic-related group fees shall be the basis for contracts with

 

these hospitals. All outpatient hospital services shall be

 


reimbursed based on the fee schedule described in subsection (4).

 

     Sec. 111m. (1) Through a competitive bid process, the state

 

shall establish a contract for medicaid claims utilization and

 

review and third-party recovery. A company bidding on or

 

participating in the ongoing medicaid contract for utilization and

 

review and third-party recovery may not control 15% or more of the

 

state's health care coverage market at any time, excluding the

 

medicaid and medicare programs.

 

     (2) The company selected under this section shall have

 

extensive experience in processing health care claims, including

 

claims for pharmaceuticals and long-term care, for the purpose of

 

reviewing medicaid utilization and third-party recovery data. The

 

company selected under this section shall have extensive experience

 

in the principles of managed care.

 

     (3) Not less than 1 time each year, the company selected under

 

this section shall review and prepare reports detailing medicaid

 

reimbursement expenditures and trends. The company selected under

 

this section shall review medicaid claims data annually and shall

 

seek recovery of any inappropriately paid claims and report the

 

results to the single state agency and to the medicaid claims

 

processing contractor.

 

     (4) The company selected under this section shall identify and

 

report systematic error, suspected fraud, or false claim activity

 

and shall report that activity to the single state agency and to

 

the medicaid claims processing contractor. The company selected

 

under this section shall prepare reports that the single state

 

agency shall submit to the attorney general. If the company

 


determines that their findings may be indicative of fraudulent or

 

false claim activity, those findings shall be included in the

 

report. The single state agency and the company selected shall

 

cooperate with the attorney general in providing data to support

 

the investigation of or prosecution of suspected or known

 

fraudulent or false claim activity against the medicaid program.

 

The company selected shall make regular recommendations for cost

 

containment to the single state agency. The company selected shall

 

annually report its findings as described in subsection (4), by

 

geographic regions in the state, and its costs to the single state

 

agency. The single state agency shall submit the report and

 

findings to the house and senate appropriations committees and to

 

the single state agency.

 

     Sec. 111n. (1) All medicaid policies and procedures and claims

 

processing, review, and recovery activities shall be carried out in

 

compliance with all applicable federal laws and regulations. The

 

single state agency shall seek a waiver as provided for by federal

 

law and regulation, if necessary, in order to facilitate cost

 

reduction, efficiency, and quality of care in the delivery of

 

services according to sections 111l and 111m.

 

     (2) The state shall establish a special transaction unit to

 

process medicaid claims properly submitted under the claim system

 

in use before the single state agency began processing medicaid

 

claims.

 

     Sec. 111o. Sections 111l, 111m, and 111n take effect 1 year

 

after the effective date of the amendatory act that added this

 

section. Claims submitted to the special transaction unit must be

 


timely and properly submitted. Claims submitted to the special

 

transaction unit in an untimely manner or improperly submitted

 

shall not be processed.

 

     Enacting section 1. Sections 111i and 111j of the social

 

welfare act, 1939 PA 280, MCL 400.111i and 400.111j, are repealed.