Idaho’s Medicaid Payment System Better

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Officials scrutinizing Idaho's trouble-prone Medicaid claims processing system say it's now operating more efficiently than a year ago and that most outstanding payments have been recovered. Idaho adopted a new Medicaid claims processing system in June 2010, after awarding the contract to California-based Molina Medicaid Solutions. But the system broke down almost immediately, interrupting payments to numerous Medicaid providers and threatening their existence. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare issued $117 million in interim payments to providers, to help them stay afloat. Only about $1 million of those payments remain unrecovered, according to a follow-up report issued the Office of Performance Evaluations. In addition, the number of providers still unsatisfied with the new claims processing system has dropped to 25 percent, down from 33 percent a year ago.