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Louisiana Lawmakers Approve $15.4 Billion Medicaid Contract Extension

LA. MEDICAID CONTRACTS EXTENDED --  Gov. John  Bel Edwards  has  won  legislative  backing  for  $15.4 billion dollars  in  Medicaid  managed-care  contract  extensions that House Republicans  had  blocked  multiple  times  in prior votes.    At  thefourth  hearing  of  the Legislature's  joint  budget committee  on  the  deals last week, lawmakers approved  the  extensions  without  a  single objection.  Appropriations  Chairman  Cameron Henry,  the House  Republican who led  the original opposition, seemed  to  claim  victory  for  the  process.  Henry said, " Overall, what we were able to do by not agreeing right away with what you all wanted to do, is just to put some language in the contracts that makes everybody feel, he taxpayers feel, a little bit better than we did before. And we allowed the process to work. We might not have gotten everything that we wanted, but we have more than what we originally started.We didn't rubber stamp it — we just allowed the process that we have in place to work. So for the future contracts, I would assume we're going to again continue to allow the process to work."

LA. BUDGET COMMITTEE ON MEDICAID - Appropriations Chair Cameron Henry (R) makes a point during discussion on extending La.'s Medicaid Contracts asGovernor's Executive Counsel,  Matthew Block appears before the committee last week.
Credit Courtesy: La.Legis.gov
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Courtesy: La.Legis.gov
LA. BUDGET COMMITTEE ON MEDICAID - Appropriations Chair Cameron Henry (R) makes a point during discussion on extending La.'s Medicaid Contracts asGovernor's Executive Counsel, Matthew Block appears before the committee last week.

The extensions  will  keep  in  place  five companies  that  manage  care  for  1.5 million  Louisiana Medicaid  patients.  The  current  contracts  were  set  to expire  Jan. 31.   Gov.  Edwards  had  planned  to  enact the  deals  through  an  emergency  process  if  lawmakers  didn't  reverse  their opposition,  a  plan  that  provoked  legislative  criticism.

LA. MEDICAID CONTRACTS EXTENDED -- Gov. John Bel Edwards has won legislative backing for $15.4 billion dollars in Medicaid managed-care contract extensions that House Republicans had blocked multiple times in prior votes.

Copyright 2017 Red River Radio

Chuck Smith brings more than 30 years' experience to Red River Radio having started out as a radio news reporter and moving into television journalism as a newsmagazine producer / host, talk-show moderator, programming director and managing producer and news director / anchor for commercial, public broadcasting and educational television. He has more recently worked in advertising, marketing and public relations as a writer, video producer and media consultant. In pursuit of higher learning, Chuck studied Mass Communications at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and motion picture / television production at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has also taught writing for television at York Technical College in Rock Hill, South Carolina and video / film production at Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport.