Passport Health Plan drops secrecy; governor calls on corrections non-profit to do likewise

Passport Health Plan, the managed-care organization for Medicaid in the Louisville area, announced today that it would no longer fight to keep its records secret, deciding not to appeal a ruling by Attorney General Jack Conway that it had to give records to The Courier-Journal because most of its money comes from the state.

"The announcement came the same day Gov. Steve Beshear said he wants Dismas Charities Inc., a halfway-house company that stymied a state audit by refusing to fully release its financial information, to open its records as well," reports Deborah Yetter of the Louisville newspaper, which "has published stories detailing questionable spending by both Passport and Dismas, and legislators and state officials have demanded greater accountability from both." Louisville-based Dismas says it gets 22 percent of its funds from the state, 3 points short of the threshold for being subject to the open-records law.

Passport's interim CEO, Mark Carter, said in an article on the paper's op-ed page that the decision "was not based upon legal advice but was made as part of the continuing evolution, perhaps even transformation, of the plan." He said state Auditor Crit Luallen's scathing report on the plan "has served as a very beneficial wake-up call to our organization."

Luallen "was rebuffed in her attempt to audit Dismas," and yesterday "said outside companies that do state business must be held accountable for their use of tax dollars," Yetter writes. Today the state issued a request for proposals to expand Medicaid managed care to other parts of the state. Luallen told Yetter, “I think if government is going to privatize services … we have to have a higher level of accountability, not a lower level of accountability.” (Read more)

Judge rules Passport managed-care plan for Medicaid is subject to Open Records Act

As Kentucky prepares to put more of its Medicaid program under a managed-care system to save money, a judge has ruled that the contractor running the program's only managed-care plan is a public agency subject to the state Open Records Act.

Ruling in a lawsuit filed by The Courier-Journal, Jefferson Circuit Judge Susan Schultz Gibson wrote, "Since Passport exists for the purpose of administering the Medicaid program on behalf of the Commonwealth, the sought records all appear to relate to Passport’s state-related operations."

Passport, which can appeal the ruling, declined to comment. A consortium of Louisville-area hospitals, physicians and other health care providers, it serves about 165,000 poor and disabled Medicaid patients in 16 counties in the Louisville region under a $740 million annual contract. The state administers the program but most of its money comes from the federal government.

"While it has been praised by lawmakers for providing good care and saving the state money, it came under fire last year after a critical audit by state Auditor Crit Luallen," Deborah Yetter writes for the Louisville newspaper. "The audit blasted Passport management for spending on meals, travel and lobbying, and it questioned the transfer of about $30 million in reserve funds to University Hospital and other physician groups and hospitals involved in Passport operations." (Read more)