STATE CAPITOL, MO. -- Missouri health officials have been forced to hire temporary workers and enlist state employees to help a private business that faces widespread complaints about its poor screening of Medicaid patients.
Health officials gave that news to Missouri lawmakers during a meeting on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the future of Syncare Incorporated.
Lawmakers at the meeting had many unanswered questions. We still don’t know how long the state’s contract with Syncare will last.
Officials with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services told lawmakers they had to hire 13 temporary workers and shift as many as 20 state workers from their regular jobs after widespread complaints against Syncare. The Indianapolis-based company won a $5.5 million annual contract to determine whether thousands of Missouri Medicaid recipients qualify for home-based medical services or help with daily chores. Health officials testified terminating the contract with Syncare is just one option.
Deputy State Health Department Director Peter Lyskowski said, “We don’t get up and come to work every morning and say, how are we going to punish Syncare today? We get every morning and come to work to say, what do we need to do today to address this crisis situation.”
Some lawmakers urged health officials to immediately end the state’s contract with Syncare. No immediate decision was made.
Rep. John Cauthorn, R-Mexico, said, “If I’m a contractor and going to build a road, I don’t know that we would send the highway department to help them. Either they are doing their job or they are not.”
The contract between the state and Syncare is now in limbo as members of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services try to repair what lawmakers call a catastrophe.
Representatives of Syncare Incorporated have not responded to repeated requests for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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