BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana lawmakers are scheduled Thursday to have a fourth debate on whether to approve $15.4 billion in Medicaid managed-care contract extensions sought by Gov. John Bel Edwards.
Under the current deals, set to expire Jan. 31, five managed-care companies oversee health care services delivered to 1.5 million Medicaid patients. The Edwards administration wants to retain the companies for 23 months beyond the expiration date, saying the deals are needed to continue providing services to 90 percent of Louisiana's Medicaid recipients.
House Republicans on the legislature's joint budget committee, led by Appropriations Chairman Cameron Henry, have blocked the extensions so far, raising concerns about their price tag and oversight of the spending.
Edwards, a Democrat, has suggested the lawmakers are being obstructionists, noting that senators on the committee, GOP and Democrat, unanimously voted to approve the deals.
The joint budget committee will again discuss the proposals at its Thursday meeting.
If House Republicans don't reverse their opposition, the Edwards administration — through the Louisiana Department of Health — intends to sidestep them to enact the deals through an emergency contracting process.
But Attorney General Jeff Landry, responding to questions from 16 Republican state senators, has warned that contracts done through the emergency statute could be subject to legal dispute.
The Edwards administration is relying on a state law that allows for emergency contracting when an imminent threat to public health, welfare or safety exists. Edwards' lawyer Matthew Block said he's confident the looming expiration of the managed-care deals meets the criteria of an emergency, because it could threaten people with the loss of access to health care on Feb. 1.
The current managed-care contracts were negotiated by former Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration. The Edwards administration tweaked the terms, adding what it says are more dollars tied to performance and more quality measures.
Among their many concerns, House GOP lawmakers have sought to give the legislative auditor's office more explicit authority to review managed-care records. The Edwards administration has added that language into the extensions up for consideration Thursday.
-By Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press