Despite having one of the strictest eligibility requirements in the country, Alabama has struggled to control the rising costs of Medicaid, which provides health coverage to more than 1 million residents.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, a popular two-term Republican governor, and a dermatologist, is offering an unusual cure.
The state last week won federal approval to shift most of its Medicaid recipients into managed care organizations, which are paid a fixed monthly fee from the state for each person in the plan. It’s a strategy employed by about three dozen states, many for decades, to provide more predictable spending.
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