Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services (DSH) has restored access to drug and alcohol treatment services to Medicaid recipients who were placed in new Medicaid private coverage option plans that do not cover such care.
At fault was a glitch in the implementation of the Healthy Pennsylvania Medicaid expansion in which some Medicaid recipients were placed in “low risk” insurance plans that do not cover drug and alcohol treatment.  DHS staff combed the rolls of Medicaid recipients who joined those plans in search of recipients who needed those services and shifted them into plans that provide such coverage.
About 8500 Medicaid beneficiaries affected by the problem have been moved into plans that enable them to resume resume treatment.
Some providers chose to continue treating their Medicaid patients who lost their coverage and have suffered financial problems as a result.  The state intends to address those situations on a case-by-case basis, according to acting DHS secretary Ted Dallas.
Some of those recipients may eventually be on the move again as the Wolf administration continues phasing out the Healthy Pennsylvania program in favor of expanding the state’s pre-Healthy Pennsylvania Medicaid program.
For a close look at this problem, how it affects patients and providers, and how the state corrected it, see this Philadelphia Inquirer article.