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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR:	Maes		DATE TYPED:	02/06/02		HB
SHORT TITLE:		Medicaid Reimbursement for Oriental Medicine				SB	268
					ANALYST:		Weber

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained

Estimated Additional Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY02

FY03

FY02

FY03

$0.1

Indeterminate

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Human Services Department (HSD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 268 proposes doctors of oriental medicine be included as Medicaid providers. The Human Services Department is expected to establish a reimbursement rate commensurate with reasonable and customary rate for acupuncture services charged by doctors of oriental medicine nationwide.

Significant Issues

Adding to the Medical Assistance Division's (MAD’s) list of eligible providers would create a need for an undetermined amount of new funds. Medicaid does not reimburse for services provided by a DOM, e.g., acupuncture treatments, herbal remedies, and oriental massage. MAD would not receive matching funds for the services provided by a DOM.

MAD would have to create a new service category, promulgate new regulations, write new billing instructions, and update the Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) to allow new procedure codes and providers for the new provider type and specialty to be reimbursed.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Addition of Oriental Medicine may increase Medicaid expense based on more utilization.

MW/ar