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State says initial payment problems under new behavioral-health managed-care contract addressed; liquidated damages imposed
Summary
After the July 2024 launch of Idaho’s new behavioral health managed-care contract (IBHP), providers reported payment delays. Department officials told lawmakers Magellan addressed many early issues, the department has imposed liquidated damages and established corrective action plans, but some providers still raised concerns.
Director Alex Adams and Deputy Director Juliette Sharon told the committee that the Idaho Behavioral Health Plan (IBHP) contract went live July 1 and that the Department of Health and Welfare has worked with the vendor to resolve initial payment and configuration issues.
"This supplemental is for costs already incurred," Juliette Sharon said, describing system configuration, interface updates and testing done to support the larger scope of the new contract. She said the IBHP contract brought into managed care some services that had previously been delivered via fee-for-service or through the Division of Behavioral Health, increasing the implementation scope.
Senator Cook and other members pressed the department with multiple provider anecdotes about late or missing payments. Sharon and Adams acknowledged start-up problems but emphasized corrective action: "We have imposed over $100,000 of liquidated damages with Magellan," Sharon said, and the vendor is on corrective action plans and producing monthly performance reports. Sharon said Magellan has worked on provider education, mailing-address fixes and electronic funds transfer setups to reduce payment delays.
Department officials said the vendor is meeting timeliness requirements at present, though the department continues to monitor payment denials and provider complaints. Adams called the contract implementation the largest in the state and said that while initial "speed bumps" were expected, the agency is tracking remediation and will provide committee follow-up on any ongoing provider problems.
Ending: Committee members asked the department for additional, written updates on provider payment timeliness and corrective actions; the department offered to follow up with targeted briefings for committee members.
