DHS to end Medicaid managed care dental program, return to fee-for-service

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) announced Monday (June 3) that it will end its Medicaid managed care dental program and return beneficiaries who qualify for dental coverage to the Medicaid fee-for-service program beginning later this year.

DHS expects to launch this program on Nov. 1, 2024, and efforts to support this change are being prioritized immediately, it said.

The dental managed care program within Arkansas Medicaid has been in effect since Jan. 1, 2018, and as of this month serves 572,047 beneficiaries.

DHS to end Medicaid managed care dental program, return to fee-for-service

State of the State 2024: Arkansas health care faces challenges

by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

Editor’s note: The State of the State series provides reports twice a year on Arkansas’ key economic sectors. The series publishes stories to begin a year and stories in July/August to provide a broad mid-year update on the state’s economy. Link here for the State of the State page and previous stories.

With Arkansas’ Medicaid system still rebalancing after the COVID pandemic and Arkansans ranking near the bottom in health metrics, the state of the state’s health care is challenging.

One of the biggest health-related stories this past year has been Arkansas’ “unwinding” of its Medicaid rolls. During the COVID pandemic, the federal government provided extra money to states provided that they didn’t disenroll recipients throughout the emergency. That restriction ended April 1. While most states opted to abide by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ 14-month-time frame, Arkansas law accelerated its redetermination process over a six-month period.

State of the State 2024: Arkansas health care faces challenges

Arkansas' Medicaid rolls reduced by 82,279 in July; total disenrolled more than 300,000

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

Arkansas’ Medicaid rolls fell by more than 82,000 in July, according to new figures released by the state Department of Human Services.

Arkansas is unwinding, or redetermining, Medicaid eligibility for patients as part of the ending of the federal COVID-19 pandemic. There was a continuous enrollment requirement during the crisis that prevented DHS from removing most ineligible individuals from Medicaid. State law requires the unwinding process be completed in six months.

In its fourth month of redetermination, DHS officials said 82,279 Arkansans had their Medicaid cases closed – a number that includes those added to the rolls during the public health emergency and regular renewals. In July, more than 50,000 cases were renewed after eligibility was confirmed, DHS said.

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/08/medicaid-rolls-reduced-by-82279-in-july-total-disenrolled-more-than-300000/