The Bush administration has allowed states to make vast changes in Medicaid but has not held them accountable for the quality of care they provide to poor elderly and disabled people, Congressional investigators said today.
The Bush administration has allowed states to make vast changes in Medicaid but has not held them accountable for the quality of care they provide to poor elderly and disabled people, Congressional investigators said today.
More than a dozen state waiver programs covering tens of thousands of people have gone more than a decade without any federal review of the quality of care, the accounting office said. These programs were in Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Many states sign contracts with social service agencies to manage care for Medicaid recipients, but never review the quality of care or verify that services were actually provided, the report said. In Oklahoma, it said, 27 percent of Medicaid recipients received none of their authorized personal care services, and 49 percent received only half of the authorized services.
Hmmm.... Wonder how many of these arencies that take Federal money and don't provide care are Republican contributors? Especially in Texas?