Aproposal to alter Medicaid in North Carolina is facing some opposition in the state legislature. While Medicaid’s multi-billion dollar budget requires a deft touch and generous amounts of consideration, legislators would be wise to move forward with the implementation of Accountable Care Organizations, or ACOs, in North Carolina.
ACOs are groups of health care providers that are tasked with serving the same community of patients. Health care providers can opt-in to ACOs and any money saved by the organization goes back to the ACO itself.
Dissent against the proposal includes fear that it won’t slow spending enough, nor will it help predict Medicaid costs more precisely.
While those factors are glaring issues within the plan, the benefit of the ACOs for the patients still warrants their implementation in North Carolina. Patients who receive care through ACOs will see more targeted plans for their health.
When lawmakers meet in May to discuss and potentially make changes to the proposal, they should use this as a stepping stone to make Medicaid more cost effective and inclusive — but not by cutting the ACOs out of the plan completely.
One focus in these discussions should be on how to make ACOs work for the mental health community. The communal nature of the program proves that it is possible, but the current proposal doesn’t take enough care to make sure that it will happen.
After turning down extra financial assistance for Medicaid from the federal government in 2013, the state must work in its best interests to make the most fiscally sound decisions. ACOs can be a part of those sound decisions as long as lawmakers focus on making them as solvent as possible for the people of North Carolina.
