THE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT, THE BROWARD ADDICTION RECOVERY DIVISION, AND THE ELDERLY AND VETERANS SERVICES DIVISION RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THE ABOVE MOTIONS.
This item supports the Board's Value of "Approaching human services collaboratively and compassionately with special emphasis on the most vulnerable," and the Goal to "Effectively advocate for and acquire municipal, state, and federal financial support to equitably address health and human services needs of the entire community, through a truly coordinated system of care." This contract will allow credentialed County agencies to receive state and federal financial support for health services provided to Medicaid-eligible clients who are members of Beacon Health Strategies plan network.
Retroactive approval is being requested due to delay in receiving the necessary documents. The amendment to the interim agreement expired on April 30, 2018. The final draft of the agreement was provided to Broward County on March 12, 2018.
Medicaid provides health coverage to millions of Americans, including eligible low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities. Historically, County agencies have been able to recover some costs for treatment from Medicaid for clients receiving outpatient services. However, the Florida Medicaid system has undergone many changes. In 2011, Florida passed legislation to transition most Medicaid recipients from traditional fee-for-service Medicaid to Managed Care Medicaid. Within Broward County, there are four Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCO) for substance abuse and mental health.
Broward County’s grant funded agreement with the Broward Behavioral Health Coalition (BBHC) requires providers that receive more than $500,000 in funding and who meet Medicaid Managed Medical Assistance (MMA) provider criteria to enroll as a Medicaid MMA provider. Pursuant to this requirement, the Broward Addiction Recovery Division (BARC) and the Elderly and Veterans Services Division (EVSD) initiated the enrollment process and have been involved in protracted negotiations for long-term service contracts with the four Medicaid MCOs acting as Third Party Administrators (TPA) for the Medicaid health plans in Broward County.
Beacon Health Strategies (Beacon) is the largest TPA in the Broward County region representing health plans such as Aetna, AvMed, Coventry, Humana, and Optimum. This full facility Agreement is one of the four MCO agreements, and and it will allow BARC and EVSD to serve the largest portion of Broward County Medicaid plan members.
On August 22, 2017, the Board authorized the execution of an interim agreement with Beacon effective August 1, 2017 through November 1, 2017, including the County Administrator's execution of amendment 1, which extended the agreement through April 30, 2018.
The Office of the County Auditor’s Performance Review of Broward Addiction Recovery Center March 2016 Report No. 16-04 recommended: “To maximize potential revenue, and offset some costs of providing treatment services, BARC should continue efforts to execute long term agreements with Medicaid carriers.” Execution of this contract allows BARC to realize revenue for services to Beacon members and comply with BBHC grant requirements.
This revenue contract is estimated to generate $276,800 annually, $1,107,200 during the full four-year term, depending on the number of clients served and type of services provided.
The contract has been reviewed and approved as to form by The Office of the County Attorney and the Risk Management Division. |