Effective Jan. 1, 2019, the Mississippi Division of Medicaid (DOM) is increasing the number of physician visits it covers for Medicaid beneficiaries, the first of a series of changes the agency plans to roll out in the coming year.
The move is part of the new Medicaid EASE Initiative — Enhancing Access to Services and Engagement — a bundle of programmatic changes aimed at bolstering Medicaid beneficiaries’ access to needed services in the most appropriate setting.
With the first phase of the EASE Initiative, DOM will increase the physician visit limit for beneficiaries from 12 to 16 visits per year. This increase supplements limit flexibility already in place for different populations of Medicaid beneficiaries. Beneficiaries in nursing homes, for instance, can receive up to 36 physician visits annually. Individuals who participate in the MississippiCAN program will continue to be eligible for enhanced services offered by the managed care company with which they are enrolled, which include unlimited physician visits. DOM will also continue to offer unlimited medically necessary physician visits for children up to age 21.
DOM plans to announce additional EASE Initiative reforms in the coming months. These projects are still in development and include increases to the monthly prescription drug limit and home health visit limit, behavioral health and substance use disorder reforms, and an effort to reduce potentially preventable hospital readmissions. DOM will share more information about these projects as they are developed.
Mississippi Rural Health Association 