11.22.11 The conversion of Louisiana’s Medicaid/LaCHIP program from a fee-for-service system to a coordinated care model is underway. This conversion from our fee-for-service system to the managed care model includes two central processes. The first is the process of providers deciding which Health Plans they will join. The second is the process of Medicaid/LaCHIP recipients choosing a Health Plan that will be responsible for the coordination and delivery of their health care services.

DHH has developed a new provider resource guide focused on this second critical process – the Health Plan choice process for Medicaid and LaCHIP recipients. It was created because we know many of the recipients faced with Health Plan choice will reach out to their health care providers with relevant questions and concerns. The guide includes new information that will be useful to providers as their Medicaid and LaCHIP patients begin the process of choosing a Health Plan.

More specifically, this new guide includes a description of all Medicaid and LaCHIP recipients that will be included in BAYOU HEALTH; service carve outs from BAYOU HEALTH; an implementation map; an implementation calendar of key steps in the recipient Health Plan choice process; dos and don’ts guidance from DHH for providers regarding the recipient choice process; and a list of answers to frequently asked questions.

Additionally, this guide includes links to samples of the materials that will be delivered to Medicaid/LaCHIP recipients as part of their Health Plan choice process, and links to simple downloadable tools that have been created for providers to help them understand and properly support the recipient Plan choice process. One of the tools is a one-sheet Provider Tablet that providers can use to identify for their patients the names of all the Health Plans they have joined.

Click here to access the new provider guide - The BAYOU HEALTH Plan Choice Process for Medicaid and LaCHIP Recipients: A Resource Guide for Providers.