2012 GSHA Convention
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February 10-11
Crowne Plaza Perimeter Northwest
6345 Powers Ferry Rd. NW
Atlanta, GA 30339

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Latest News
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Trialliance Update
On Friday December 2, 2011, the Trialliance met with representatives from Amerigroup Community Care organization at the request of the Trialliance to begin a more consistent dialogue between Amerigroup and the state occupational, physical and speech therapy organizations. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss specific issues pertinent to relations between therapy providers and Amerigroup. Kelly Ball, GSHA representative, Nicole Walker, GOTA representative, Aime Locicero, PTAG representative, Karen Bennett, PTAG representative, Stan Jones, GSHA lobbyist, Tom Bauer, GOTA’s lobbyist, Francesca Gary, Amerigroup Chief Operating Officer, Mel Lindsey, Vice President of External Relations, Dr. Donald Paul, Medical Director, and Tabbatha Echols, Manager, Health Care Management Services were present for the meeting.  Click here to view notes from the meeting.

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Provider Rate Cuts
We received some good news regarding the .5 percent rate cut for Medicaid providers.  See information below from our lobbyist Helen Sloat:

Provider Rate Cuts – Rescission Public Notice.  The Board previously adopted a notice on June 9, 2011 to implement a provider rate reduction of .5 percent as required in the State's Budget for FY 2012 beginning on July 1, 2011.  This cut would impact all providers except hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home and community-based services, federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics and hospice providers.  The notice presented at this meeting would rescind the prior notice.  Public comment will be held on December 28, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. and written comment may be submitted on this issue up to 5:00 p.m. on December 28, 2011.  The Board will take final action on this rescission on January 12, 2012.  The Board agreed to post this Notice.

So, it would appear that there will be no cuts to provider rates – it is  not clear if the Department has heard back from CMS on the issue.

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Member Q & A:

Q:  Have Medicaid rates changed recently? I was told they had but got no info about the new rates and am continued to be reimbursed as always.  Thanks for any info concerning this.

A: The budget, which was approved during the last legislative session, gave Medicaid providers a ½% rate cut.  This cut was supposed to go into effect on July 1, 2011.  Click here to view the document for the background on this cut.  CIS providers may have noticed that the July 1 manual showed these rate cuts but providers continued to get paid their regular rate.  In the Oct manual the posted rates returned to the original rates.  We have reached out to our lobbyists to find out the reason for these changes in the CIS manuals and to find out what providers can expect in the future.  Stan Jones and Helen Sloat, our lobbyists, have in turn reached out to DCH for clarification on these issues but have not heard back.  We will pass along additional information as it becomes available.