State lifts payment suspensions for disenrolled providers who filed an appeal
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Following widespread outcry from providers and state lawmakers, the Minnesota Department of Human Services said it will lift payment suspensions for providers who filed an appeal, according to a memo sent to providers and obtained by MPR News on Wednesday.
Any providers who submitted an appeal by June 9 will have their payment suspension lifted by the end of the day on June 11, the agency said in the memo.
“It’s a nice gesture,” said Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, who sits on the Senate Human Services Committee. “The whole process has been a disaster from the very beginning.”
As part of the state’s agreement with the federal government’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Human Services was required to revalidate nearly 5,600 providers of high-risk Medicaid programs by May 31. According to data released last week, the agency disenrolled more than 3,400 providers, about sixty percent, the majority due to incomplete paperwork and documentation.
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Many providers expressed concerns that they were disenrolled simply because the agency ran out of time to revalidate them before the deadline.
“If their level of review capacity is so lousy they can’t tell a quality legacy provider from somebody who’s new and they’re driving around a Range Rover…and providing bad services, then they really should be ashamed of themselves,” Abeler said.
Previously, the human services department said disenrolled providers would not be able to receive payment during the appeal process. Many providers raised concerns that they would be forced to close, putting vulnerable Minnesotans who rely on Medicaid at risk.
“What’s at risk are lives of Minnesotans and in retaining quality care here in the state,” said Mike Beltowsky, vice president of program development at Horowitz Integrated Services, a substance use and mental health provider that was disenrolled.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the human services department said in a statement the agency doesn’t want to “harm legitimate providers.”
“We care deeply that vulnerable Minnesotans are getting the care they need from trusted providers. We also have to make sure that providers are meeting legal requirements to provide services,” the spokesperson said.
Wendy Jones, executive director of the Minnesota Alliance of Recovery Community Organizations, said the revalidation process has caused many providers to lose trust in the human services department.
“DHS can’t execute massive amounts of social services without all these providers,” Jones said. “There needs to be a sustained commitment and follow-through to that recognition that these are partners and we should be supporting the fidelity of that work in any way possible.”
