Committee revisits Medicaid case‑management rate parity; department and advocates differ on scope

Sen. Kevin Nabard (prime sponsor) presented Senate Bill 135, which would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to annually establish Medicaid rates for state‑plan case management services and create parity among the same or similar services.

Caroline (Carolyn/Caroline in transcript) Virtue and other case‑management advocates told the committee parity is required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and by state direction, and that current reimbursement for Choices for Independence (CFI) case management is far below comparable rates for other targeted populations. Virtue said the department's July 2024 rate study benchmarked certain rates against themselves instead of against comparable services, and that the CFI case management rate was set without a recognized…