Program Tests New Approach to Treating Medicare/Medicaid Eligible Poor

Medicare-Medicaid Experiment Aims To Save On Care by Mary Agnes Carey and Sarah Varney/Kaiser Health News.  USA Today.  December 5, 2012.

California is experimenting with moving a large group of Medicaid enrollees from traditional fee-for-service programs into managed care to see if good care can be delivered at lower cost.  This program foreshadows the roll-out of a program under the Affordable Care Act for managed care for dual-eligible  people i.e. those eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.  These dual-eligibles face some of the most complex medical cases from both programs.  The challenge is for better coordination to eliminate costs and deliver better service.  Critics site concerns regarding the speed of implementation and scope of the new program.  While there is an opt-out provision in the national program, critics wonder how that would work when a significant number of the affected patients have cognitive impairment.