This week our In Focus section reviews the Florida Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Program (SMMC) Invitation to Negotiate (ITN), released on April 11, 2023, by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). SMMC consists of three programs: Managed Medical Assistance (MMA), Long-term Care (LTC), and dental, covering 4.4 million individuals. This ITN is for contracts to provide MMA and LTC.
Under the SMMC program, all enrollees receive their services from a single plan providing managed medical assistance, long-term care, and specialty benefits. (Dental benefits are provided separately.)
AHCA will select plans that will achieve the agency’s goals, including providing healthy birth outcomes for mothers and their infants, improving childhood and adolescent mental health, maximizing home and community-based placement and services, and supporting the HOPE Florida program. HOPE Florida utilizes ‘Hope Navigators’ to help individuals achieve economic self-sufficiency, develop long term-goals, and map out a strategic plan by focusing on community collaboration between the private sector, faith-based community, nonprofits and government entities.
Additionally, with the new contracts, AHCA will implement the following changes:
- Specialty plans will no longer be awarded separately but must be awarded to a comprehensive or MMA plan.
- Enrolling voluntary recipients (such as individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities) into the SMMC program and providing the opportunity for them to opt out
- AHCA may mandatorily enroll into the MMA program full benefit dual-eligibles who are also in a Medicare Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan (DSNP).
AHCA will invite 10 plans to negotiate for awards as shown below:
Timeline
Proposals are due August 15, 2023, with an anticipated award date of December 11. Contract will run from October 1, 2024, through December 31, 2030. Contracts may not be renewed, but AHCA may extend the term to cover any delays during the transition to a new plan.
Evaluation
Plans can receive a total maximum number of points of 5,950. AHCA will invite top-ranking plans to negotiations to ensure that AHCA can enter into contracts with the minimum required number of plans per region.
Current Market
As of December 2022, Florida served 4.3 million MMA and LTC enrollees, excluding an additional 97,000 Children’s Medical Services enrollees in the Children’s Medical Services Network plan. Centene had the highest market share based on enrollment, at over 40 percent.
