The Medicaid Redesign Team II (MRT II) held their first public meetings in Albany and in NYC. MRT II is tasked with finding $2.5 billion in Medicaid savings for the 2021 state budget and recurring savings for future budgets without affecting local governments and beneficiaries. The Albany meeting consisted of member introductions and presentations made by Division of Budget Director Robert Mujica and Donna Frescatore and Greg Allen from the Department of Health. The presentations, which included PowerPoint slides, contained facts and figures on Medicaid spending since the original MRT was established in 2011. You can view the PowerPoint presentation here: https://health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/redesign/mrt2/docs/2020-02-11_presentation.pdf
The beginning of both meetings was met with protestors carrying signs and chanting. During the Department of Health’s presentation, Donna Frescatore identified several long-term and personal-care services for the disabled and chronically ill as one of the six areas where Medicaid may need to be “course corrected”. The other five areas included state payments to distressed hospitals, prescription drug costs, a rise in taxi livery and medical transportation use, health homes and care management for individuals would complex ailments, and abuse, waste and fraud, which MRT refers to as “program integrity”. Frescatore also provided the process that stakeholders and citizens can follow if they would like to submit proposal to the MRT, which included filling out a form on their website, by noon on February 21st. and are expected to be discussed at the panel’s meeting on March 2. The MRT is set to hold another meeting in mid-March, but health officials have yet to announce a date or location. SRC will continue to monitor these meetings and inform client of any important updates.