By Chip Brownlee
The Alabama Political Reporter
Gov. Robert Bentley is expected to make a “major announcement” Thursday in Montgomery regarding the State’s ailing Medicaid Agency.
In a press release Wednesday, Bentley’s office announced he would be holding the meeting in the Old House Chamber Thursday at 2 p.m., and he will be joined by the Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar.
Bentley has indicated he would be announcing plans soon to return Medicaid providers’ reimbursements to pre-Aug. 1 levels. The agency said it was forced to cut payments to doctors on Aug. 1 because of an $85 million shortfall in appropriations.
Earlier this month, the Legislature arrived at a compromise during a contentious Special Session that allocated $85 million in money from a settlement with BP over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
Even with the money from the Special Session, the Agency announced last week it would delay the implementation of the governor’s experimental Regional Care Organizations until July 1, 2017.
The Alabama Political Reporter will keep you updated on tomorrow’s announcement.
