Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Medicaid Reimbursement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Councillors press state to ease Medicaid billing for street-based care
Summary
Council members urged the state to simplify Medicaid billing codes so street-medicine providers such as Portland Street Response (PSR) can obtain reimbursement; members said clearer rules could transfer costs from city general fund to Medicaid without large state appropriations.
A number of councilors at the Sept. 17 work session urged the city to prioritize state actions that would make it easier for street-based providers to bill Medicaid for services, potentially shifting costs away from city general fund and improving sustainability for outreach programs.
“Getting OHA to take the steps necessary to make it easy for street medicine providers like PSR … to get Medicaid reimbursement” was proposed as a narrowly targeted priority that could produce immediate budget and service delivery benefits, Councilor Don Novick said. He added that technical fixes at the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) should not be politically controversial and could have immediate local impact.
Several councilors affirmed the point. Councilor Carmen Smith said that Medicaid billing and reimbursement for street medicine will be increasingly important as federal and state funding pressures grow: “If we can't get reimbursed for the services that we provide to people who do still have insurance, I don't know how we are going to be able to help the people who don't.”
OGR staff said they would capture the request and vet whether a state-level directive or statutory change would be required, and they noted the need to engage subject-matter experts at the state agency and service providers to specify the needed billing codes, program design and statutes.
No formal action was taken at the meeting; councilors asked OGR to include Medicaid reimbursement fixes among items OGR will evaluate for the December agenda and to coordinate with county and provider partners during the vetting process.
