I ask you, why do employees of an MCO receive better health care plans with Medicaid dollars than a Medicaid recipient with Medicaid dollars?

The State of North Carolina is accountable to me, and every taxpaying citizen, for taxes spent. 

Similarly, executives of a corporation owe a duty to shareholders to account for stock crashing.  Remember Enron? What a disaster!

Enron has been dubbed the biggest audit failure.  Enron shareholders filed a $40 billion law suit after the company’s stock price, which achieved a high of US$38.44 per share in mid-2000, plummeted to less than $1 by the end of November 2001.  And why did the shareholders sue?  Because they lost money?  Well, yes, but it is much more.  The reason the shareholders lost money is because the executives of Enron owed a duty to the shareholders, basically, to be accountable to report correct data on financials.

Apparently, Enron’s financial statements were complex and confusing to shareholders.  It has been said that from 1997 until its demise, “the primary motivations for Enron’s accounting and financial transactions seem to have been to keep reported income and reported cash flow up, asset values inflated, and liabilities off the books.” Bodurtha, James N., Jr. (Spring 2003). “Unfair Values” – Enron’s Shell Game. Washington, D.C.: McDonough School of Business. p. 2. CiteSeerX: 10.1.1.126.7560.  Arthur Anderson was the audit and accounting firm, which also went belly up due to Enron.  But Enron’s financials were false and, ultimately, led to numerous convictions.

Now, I am certainly NOT comparing the State of North Carolina to Enron.  I am merely providing an example of a possible result when accountability is ignored.  When the fiduciary duty owed is not fulfilled.

Not completely unlike corporate financials, North Carolina creates a budget every fiscal year (yeah, I get it, not completely similar either). 

When the Medicaid budget is created each year, which is more than $18 billion, I, as a taxpayer, expect those Medicaid dollars allocated to the Medicaid budget to be spent for the benefit of Medicaid recipients.  Medicaid money should be spent on Medicaid providers, who service Medicaid recipients.  I expect that administration costs be kept at a minimum.  I expect that Medicaid providers receive timely, prompt payments, and I expect that Medicaid recipients receive good, quality, and continuing health care.

I do not expect the State to cover the health care for everyone.  Not even most people.  I understand that funds are not limitless in government and that there must be limitations on spending, otherwise our great State will become another Detroit. 

However, I do expect that the funds that ARE allocated to Medicaid to BE allocated for the benefit of the Medicaid recipients. Period.

In the past year, we have implemented the Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) to manage Medicaid behavioral health care.  In theory, the MCOs were implemented to cut down the administrative costs for DHHS.  Basically…outsourcing.  In theory, it sounds good.

DHHS’ administration costs are out-of-control.  After the January 2013 Performance Audit on DHHS, State Auditor Beth Wood said North Carolina’s administrative costs are 38 percent higher than the average of nine states because of “structural flaws” in how DHHS operates the Medicaid program.

So, in response to these high administrative costs (among other things), we took the administration of behavioral health from DHHS and delegated that administration to the MCOs.  With the number of employees in Health and Human Services over 17,000 employees and the average MCO employing only a couple hundred, it seems, on its face, to be a good idea.  Surely these MCOs can and will run more efficiently that the government! Right?

(The other assumption in outsourcing is that DHHS administrative costs would actually decrease due to the MCOs, but I have seen no indication of this). I have seen no indication of the “structural flaws” in how DHHS operates the Medicaid program being fixed.

According to the website indeed.com, the average salary for a person working at NC DHHS is $47,000.  In addition to the average salary, you also need to contemplate that employees of NC DHHS qualify for basic health benefits at no cost.  However, if a DHHS employee wants to have his or her spouse covered or an insurance plan above the “basic plan,” there is a nominal cost. (The standard plan (above a basic plan) for an employee is still low, only $22.76/mo).

Health insurance premiums are a HUGE expense.  So when calculating salaries, if an employee receives free health care, in essence, the salary is higher…due to not having to pay premiums every month.  Health care premiums add up.  For example, I pay $750.00 monthly for health insurance for me and my husband. That’s $9000/year! Yikes!! (No, for real, yikes!!)  If Williams Mullen paid my health insurance premium, in essence, my salary would increase by $9000/year.

Including health care and trying to underestimate instead of overestimate, I calculate the average salary, including health care premiums, at NC DHHS at about $52,000-ish.

Since the MCOs went “live,” the Medicaid tax dollars that would have been held by NC DHHS, are now divvied up and bestowed upon each MCO.  Today, we have 11 MCOs, but soon Smokey Mountain Center will take over Western Highlands, bringing us to 10 MCOs.  Plus, according to a recent article published, “Frustrations With MeckLINK Grow as Denials for Care Increases,” MeckLINK is financially unstable.  We may soon be down to 9.  But, as for now, 11 MCOs receive the federal and state tax dollars for Medicaid behavioral health.

Key point? Tax dollars.

CenterPoint Human Services (CenterPoint), one of the MCOs, staffs approximately 200 employees (about 19 part-time). Out of the 200-ish employees, 41 employees receive salaries over $75,000 (including health care).  Almost 1/4 of CenterPoint’s employees have salaries OVER $75,000. 

145 employees receive salaries over the NC DHHS average salary: $52,000. 

Let’s talk about the price of health care.  Remember, these are OUR tax dollars.

Employee A has a base salary of $45,500.  But A received $16,965 in medical contribution.  Remember, my insurance for me and my husband costs $9,000/year.  For $16,965, how big of a family are we taxpayers covering?

Employee B has a base salary of $43,500. (Now, let me preface this example with…I hope…I pray…that this one example is a typo on CenterPoint’s financials, because, if not, this is outrageous!).  According to CenterPoint’s financials, Employee B gets $84,658 in medical contributions. Including FICA contribution, dental, short and long-term disability, 401K, etc., Employee B receives $136,716 in total compensation.  Admittedly, I have no way to confirm whether this is a typo….and, I must admit, I really hope it is. Regardless, according to CenterPoint’s financials Employee B receives $84,658 in medical contributions for a total of $136,716 total compensation, but with a base pay of only $43,500.

But here it is in black and white (and yellow) (toward the bottom):

Three other employees, C, D, and E, have base salaries of $49,750, $49,000, and $47,100, respectively, and medical contributions of $12,007 each.  And here I thought MY health insurance was expensive…

The number $12,007 is popular.  12 employees in total receive $12,007 in medical contributions for a total of $144,084 (for 12 employees).

Another employee gets $16,965 in medical contribution with a base salary of $47,100.

Now let’s talk about the Medicaid recipients’ behavioral health care services.

Since the MCOs went live, it is indisputable that less behavioral health services are being authorized by the MCOs.  (Why the government has not addressed this tragedy, I do not know).  Another question is how many less behavioral health care servies?  I have my suspicions that if we were shown the number of behavioral health care services authorized last year compared to this year, the line would look like \. 

Remember the chart from yesterday?

And this chart only shows one county. One MCO.

NC DHHS is handing over millions (just the behavioral health portion of the Medicaid funds) of Medicaid dollars to the MCOs.  But the money is not going to service Medicaid recipients.  The Medicaid dollars are paying salaries at every MCO, as well as the employees’ families’ health insurance plans.  What Medicaid funds go to the recipients for medically necessary services?  Seems to decrease every day.

I ask you, why do employees of an MCO receive better health care plans with Medicaid dollars than a Medicaid recipient with Medicaid dollars?

Aren’t Medicaid funds supposed to be for Medicaid recipients?

Maybe instead of all this administrative waste, we should just buy private health insurance for all Medicaid recipients. It would probably be cheaper.  And the medically necessary services would

                                                                                                  NOT

                                                                                                            LOOK

                                                                                                                     LIKE

                                                                                                                            THIS.

Going back to the State of North Carolina’s accountability to me and all taxpayers as to Medicaid tax dollars spent, I have not seen any investigation as where the behavioral health care Medicaid money is being spent.

The same article from above stated something that made me extremely concerned.  In “Frustrations With MeckLINK Grow as Denials for Care Increases,” the article cites that “[o]nce MCOs took over, North Carolina stopped tracking what care patients are receiving. A health official said the database goes blank. That means the state does not know how many North Carolinians received services, what those services were, or what was denied. It can compare MCOs financials, but not their care.” (emphasis added).

Are you kidding me? The State of North Carolina, which is accountable to me and all taxpayers, cannot determine whether the Medicaid dollars being handed over to the MCOs are being used appropriately????

Yet 145 employees at CenterPoint receive salaries over the NC DHHS average salary: $52,000!  145 out of 200-ish, to be exact.  Some employees are receiving health insurance contributions of over $10,000/year…and NC cannot determine how many Medicaid recipients received medically necessary behavioral health care??

As a taxpayer, I am appalled. And I want accountability!!

Where is the fiduciary duty to taxpayers?