Idaho says Medicaid contractor to fix glitches

BOISE (AP) - State officials expect Idaho's new contractor for Medicaid billing to fix glitches, which have left providers unpaid, within the next 60 days, saying the health care company will avoid penalties for now.

More than a dozen problem areas need to be addressed by California-based Molina Healthcare, said Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dick Armstrong in a joint news conference Monday with Gov. Butch Otter.

Molina Healthcare took over Idaho's Medicaid payment system on July 1, just as the state enacted a three-week delay in Medicaid payments so the agency could balance its budget. Thousands of Idaho service providers expected to receive their payments beginning July 1, but the new billing system has not been working smoothly.

While the contract with Molina Healthcare gives the state the option of penalizing the company if it doesn't perform as expected, Armstrong and the governor said they are comfortable with the corrective actions being taken.

"We're not spending much time on that right now," Armstrong said. "Our effort is to get a stable system that's paying claims on a timely basis, because we can always go back and revisit those terms."

Health and Welfare officials met with Molina executives earlier this month to work out a solution.

The company has agreed to add 50 computer technicians to make sure the new software is set up correctly and 48 customer service specialists, which may encourage providers from around the state who have said the company doesn't have enough people to answer their questions and fix the problems.

The state has identified 18 problem areas with the Medicaid billing system and some will take longer to fix than others, with the last expected to be resolved in late October, Armstrong said. The company has already taken action to correct some of the problems that resulted in a backlog of claims.

"There is strong evidence that new claims are now processing in a normal fashion," Armstrong said.

Dr. Mario Molina, president of Molina Healthcare, apologized to Idaho providers for the problems they've experienced since his company took over the payment system.

"I'm not here to make excuses," Molina said. "We're very committed to do what is necessary to fix the system."