01.04.12 For Louisiana, 2012 will be the year of managed healthcare systems.

At the state level, the Department of Health and Hospitals will roll out Bayou Health, a shift from a fee-for-service health care system to a managed, coordinated care model that is expected to give about 1.1 million Medicaid patients more choice in their health plans and service providers, according to the state's health secretary. For its behavioral health care services, the state has turned to Magellan Health Care Services as the sole organization tasked with managing behavioral health care services for the approximately 150,000 patients who rely on them.