The Maryland Department of Health and Kaiser Permanente struck a deal Wednesday that will keep more than one hundred thousand Marylanders on Medicaid from having to change providers next year, WYPR has learned.
Last week, the MDH said it may have to drop Kaiser as a Medicaid managed care organization (MCO) due to a breakdown in contract negotiations.
Now, Kaiser will join eight other MCOs, including Aetna Better Health and Carefirst Community Care, to provide coverage to Marylanders on Medicaid.
“The agreement supports historic changes that increase MCO accountability and responsibility, while focusing on the Moore-Miller Administration's efforts to achieve health equity and improve health outcomes for Marylanders,” MDH and Kaiser said in a joint statement.
Gene Ransom, the CEO of the Maryland State Medical Society, said the deal is a win for Marylanders despite the drama.
“I think whenever you have a situation where a new administration comes in, this is really their first shot to take and make changes to the MCO contracts. There’s always a little bit of tension as you make changes, right?” he said.
MDH is imposing new requirements on its MCO’s for 2025. It is not clear if those requirements had anything to do with the contract breakdown.
Those requirements include collecting data to improve standards of health equity and meeting national standards for equity.
MCO’s must also meet certain staffing requirements to ensure quality and oversight and all MCOs must have 14 leadership positions including a health equity director.
The equity efforts will expand covered medical services to neighborhoods that may not have readily available resources. For instance, a company may contract with a new medical transportation company for an area that was previously not served.
Maryland Medicaid will also begin covering pre-release services for incarcerated youth.