A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO DIRECT THE Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Medical Assistance, TO ESTABLISH A PILOT MEDICAID HMO PROGRAM.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Medical Assistance, shall develop a pilot program in four regions of the State to offer Medicaid services through an HMO. The Department shall solicit applications from HMOs across the State to participate in the program. The Department shall select the four regions based on HMO participation levels, provider availability, number of Medicaid recipients in the area, and other factors that will promote greater efficiency in the Medicaid program and enhanced access to provider services in underserved areas of the State. The Department shall report on the selection and establishment of the pilot programs to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, the House of Representative Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, and the Fiscal Research Division not later than May 1, 2008. The Department shall include in its report the levels of participation by Medicaid recipients, providers, and HMOs and the feasibility of expanding the HMO Medicaid model to other regions of the State.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2007.