West Virginia is free to require Medicaid recipients to fulfill terms of their “personal responsibility contracts” to be eligible for some medical services now that the Bush administration has approved the state’s plan, reports The Charleston Gazette. After choosing a physician or clinic as a “medical home,” beneficiaries enter contracts that may include provisions such as agreeing to take medications, keeping medical appointments, exercising, and eating well. If the recipient breaks the contract, he or she will lose certain services, such as dental care, substance abuse treatment, or prescription drug coverage. Those who honor the contracts will earn points toward optional health services. Disabled Medicaid recipients are excluded from the responsibility contracts and no benefits will be cut for children. What officials have yet to figure out, however, is whether an individual who desperately needs a medical service will be denied if a contract is breached. The Bush administration approved West Virginia’s new Medicaid program within a week under the streamlined process established under the Deficit Reduction Act passed in February.
