July 24, 2012 DHH to Hold Forum July 31 for Stakeholder Dialogue on Planned Medicaid Dental Changes

BATON ROUGE, Jul 24, 2012 - The Louisiana Department of Health will hold a forum at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 31, at the LSU School of Dentistry to discuss including dental services as a benefit in some Bayou Health Plans and to gather feedback on enhancing Medicaid fee-for-service dental care.

Tuesday, July 31 - New Orleans

6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
LSU School of Dentistry - Administrative Building, Auditorium C, 4^th floor
1100 Florida Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70119

Bayou Health is the State's new approach to coordinating care for most Medicaid and LaCHIP recipients. LDH has contracted with five Health Plans - Amerigroup RealSolutions, Community Health Solutions, LaCare, Louisiana Healthcare Connections and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan -- that are responsible for coordinating health care for recipients and working with them to address issues and empower them to take a more active role in owning their own health. BAYOU HEALTH was implemented for eligible Medicaid and LaCHIP recipients around Louisiana in three phases that each encompassed multiple parishes. The final implementation was June 1.

During this implementation phase, dental care was one of several services that were "carved out" of Bayou Health, meaning Medicaid recipients in health plans received dental services through the legacy Medicaid fee-for-service program. Beginning this fall, LDH plans to include dental care as a benefit for recipients in the three health plans that are a prepaid model, meaning they operate as traditional, MCO-style health care networks with a capitated rate -- Amerigroup, LaCare and Louisiana Healthcare Connections.

The other two plans, Community Health Solutions and United Healthcare Community Plan, are enhanced primary care case management networks. These plans process and pay claims through Medicaid. These two plans and legacy Medicaid account for more than half of Medicaid recipients, who will continue receiving dental services through the fee-for-service Medicaid program. Because of this, LDH is seeking feedback on how to enhance dental services and coordinate this aspect of care in the legacy Medicaid program.

At the dental forum, LDH Medicaid program leadership will give an overview of the planned transition for dental services and engage in an open dialogue with advocates and stakeholders to answer questions and address concerns.

LDH is holding the dental forum after office hours to allow more stakeholders the opportunity to attend. This forum is a public meeting, and no registration is required. Seating is limited to 300 attendees, and seats will be given on a first-come, first-served basis.

People who are unable to attend the forum can visit LDH's Bayou Health site, www.MakingMedicaidBetter.com, and view information about the upcoming changes for dental services, which is on the "Providers" section under the heading "Dental Services." This site will contain the presentation given at the dental forum, along with questions and answers.

LDH will update the website frequently during this process. The public is advised to check here often to see the latest details. Visitors to the site also can review information about Bayou Health, subscribe to LDH's newsletter for frequent email updates and submit questions or comments electronically. Stakeholders can also email their comments or questions to bayouhealth@la.gov.