A Message from Medicaid Director J. Ruth Kennedy:

The Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) was recently notified that Community Health Solutions'(CHS) has elected to assign ownership of its Louisiana-based business to Centene Corp., the parent company of Louisiana Healthcare Connections (LHC). DHH has approved the assignment of that contract and continues to review final documents regarding this transition.

There are no immediate changes for the members enrolled in Community Health Solutions, nor is there any immediate change for providers. Centene will have ownership of the contract with Medicaid as a Bayou Health provider and has entered into an agreement with CHS to continue coordinating services for their 200,000 members.

Centene has also requested approval from DHH to end its Shared plan contract at a future date. Medicaid staff is working closely with Centene and CMS to review that request. DHH's first priority is to ensure that any changes result in a smooth and orderly transition process for both members and providers. 

If approved, cessation of the current CHS Shared plan operations would result in the transition of the approximately 200,000 CHS members into new Health Plans, either of their own choosing or through auto enrollment.

Louisiana's auto enrollment process first takes into account a member's household or individual Health Plan relationships. For purposes of auto enrollment, DHH considers a company contracted as both a Shared and Prepaid plan as one Health Plan. Therefore, DHH anticipates that a current CHS member would typically be auto enrolled to LHC in the event the CHS contract is terminated.

However, member choice is a critical aspect of Bayou Health and we will work diligently to effectively communicate all options to members throughout the transition process. Details on the move are still in development and DHH will continue to provide information relevant to our key stakeholders.

Health Plans and providers should continue to be mindful of communications with members and potential members to ensure they remain compliant with all marketing and provider-steering regulations in effect. All health plan marketing and member materials, including things posted or distributed by providers, must continue to be reviewed and approved by Bayou Health staff.

Providers with contracting concerns are encouraged to contact their provider relations representatives with the appropriate Health Plan. Contact information for Health Plans may be found here:  http://new.dhh.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/page/1461. Members may call the member services hotline for their Health Plan. Member services hotline information may be found here: https://bayouhealth.com/LASelfService/en_US/plans.html . Additional questions about this transition may be directed to the Bayou Health team at bayouhealth@la.gov  or by calling (225) 342-6304 or (225) 342-7628.