Health care service to consolidate across state

Health service coordination for low-income families in Orange County will soon be more scarce.

This year, the N.C. General Assembly mandated that the state’s Division of Medical Assistance reduce its case management services, which ensures people get the medical care they need.

Health Check, a statewide program that serves about 3,000 children in Orange County annually, is one of the case management services that will be consolidated. The program makes sure children eligible for Medicaid receive services such as immunizations, counseling, dental care, prescriptions, lab tests and routine checkups.

Starting February 2010, the program will go from providing county care to regional care. Each county had a Health Check coordinator, but now one coordinator will be in charge of four or five counties.

The cut will save the state $280,000, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

“At least we will still have the service available in the community but probably to a lesser degree,” said Wayne Sherman, Orange County Health Department personal health services division director. “One might suppose it would result in a much larger case load and less contact with the Medicaid recipients.”

Health Check is being consolidated into Community Care of North Carolina because its services overlap with other programs offered by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said Brad Deen, department spokesman.

“None of what DHHS is pursuing is intended to criticize the local health departments and the tremendous good their Health Check coordinators have done on behalf of some of the most vulnerable children in our state,” Deen stated in an e-mail. “We just believe we have arrived at a better, and more efficient, way to provide the same benefits.”

He said an integrated approach to case management should prevent anyone who needs services from being “lost in the cracks.”

This year, the state spent about $2.87 million on Health Check’s coordinator positions, and the Orange County Health Department received $35,000 a year to pay for a coordinator, Sherman said. But he said the money didn’t completely cover the salary and benefits of the position.

Former county coordinators are eligible to apply for positions in Community Care, but the Orange County coordinator has been reassigned to another position in the health department, Sherman said.

Margaret Samuels, executive director for the Orange County Partnership for Young Children, said through activities and programs, the partnership informs families of what services are available though Health Check.

Samuels said the partnership’s relationship with Community Care will help make the transition easier for those served by Health Check. But she expressed some apprehension about the program cuts.

“Whether it’s through community events or individual families, we’ve seen over the years that these services can and do make a difference,” she said. “Any budget reduction when you have a growing population and a growing need is a case for concern.”



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