The movement of many insured into “managed” environments has resulted in some questions to the HCA of MA regarding clients’ rights should home care services be terminated or suspended. Every Managed Care Organization (MCO) or Accountable Care Organization (ACO) – be they serving Medicare or Medicaid clients – has an obligation to have some form of patient (although not necessarily agency) internal appeal process. Agencies who are working with these organization should be versed in what these processes are.
For clients for whom the changes are threatening their well being, or seemingly discriminatory, or based on a pattern of inappropriate clinical decision making, there are legal services entities in this state who may be able to help. This list includes their names and contact information. Please note: these legal services entities will generally only take up a case if a client or, in some cases, a family member of a client calls. Keep this information on hand and share with any client who may need assistance.
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