Ross County Home Health is speaking out against a discontinuation of pediatric home health services to some area families by the Ohio Department of Medicaid.
Ross County Home Health says a notice was sent to impacted families noting the decision was due to insurance and billing issues at the Ohio Department of Medicaid.
They blame Ohio Department of Medicaid policies that allow the Medicaid Managed Care Plans to deny payments and request pre-authorization for families that have Medicaid as their secondary insurance.
Ross County Home Health often provides therapy services to kids that are known to qualify for services, yet payment is often delayed or denied.
“We are disappointed that policy decisions made in Columbus are causing children to lose access to these services. It’s extremely sad and unfortunate that Ohio’s Medicaid program is not providing enough resources to support the critical needs of children,” said Wanda Whetsel, Home Care Administrator at Ross County Home Health.
Ross County Home Health was the only home health agency in the area accepting managed care pediatric therapy cases, but now there will be no local agencies providing the service.
Ross County Home Health is working to resolve the issue by reaching out to the families impacted to work collaboratively and communicate the need for more state resources.
“We’re taking steps to resolve this issue and we remain hopeful that we may be able to offer these services to impacted families again in the future,” said Whetsel. “We’re hopeful our community can come together and work with our state legislators to resolve this issue.”