Commissioners meet health board, consultants at Manatee workshop

MANATEE -- Officials with the consulting firm recently hired by Manatee County to come up with a new way of caring for Manatee's medically needy when funds are scarce said they will introduce a new health care plan in July.

Health Management Associates, which is working in collaboration with the new Manatee Healthcare Advisory Board, will wrap up interviews with health providers and others in April, come up with a working model in May, a final draft in June and finish up in July, Dr. Maurice Lemon of Health Management Associates said Tuesday.

Lemon and fellow consultant Gary Crayton met

in the first joint workshop between the consultant, the new Healthcare Advisory Board and county commissioners.

During the two-hour workshop, commissioners told Crayton and Lemon and the advisory board to work together to rework the health care system, find a way to link the county's rich bounty of resources and maybe even save money.

The health consultant learned quickly that Manatee's indigent health care fund has all but run out, and general revenue funds will finance indigent care this year and probably next -- and commissioners are looking at a possible budget deficit by 2018.

"The nice thing is that we know we have many assets in this county," said Commission Chairwoman Vanessa Baugh during the workshop on the fourth floor of the county administration building.

Lemon and Crayton said they will use expertise gained by working with other cities and counties with similar issues.

"Our main focus is government financed health care," Crayton said. "We do research in regard to health system structuring including economics and financing. We do a lot of work for state and county governments."

Crayton said Health Management Services has offices in 16 states and has almost 200 staff.

"We will complete our interviews in April," said Lemon, who is visiting with MCR Health Services this week. "We will go over our model with you in May, have a June roll out and finish up in July."

After the meeting, Lemon told residents that he and Crayton won't drop the ball when it comes to the role of mental health in the overall indigent health care picture.

"Mental illnesses often lead to hospital visits," Lemon said.

One of the things that could be changed is the criteria for who qualifies for the county's free health care services.

Right now, a single Manatee resident earning up to $22,000 annually or a Manatee family of four earning up to $48,600 a year can get some medical assistance in Manatee County if they are uninsured or under-insured.

Manatee bases those annual wages on a guideline of 200 percent of the U.S. poverty level or below to determine eligibility for county health programs, said Karen Windon, deputy county administrator.

But commissioners were advised during the meeting that the "200 percent" figure has become a "moving target."

Over and over, the consultants and the new board heard or shared that the county seemed to have all the pieces in place to form a dynamic health care system, but a lack of coordination or collaboration was missing.

"We've got this infrastructure in place; it's just all scattered out," Commissioner Carol Whitmore said.

Dr. Jennifer Bencie, administrator of the Florida Department of Health in Manatee, came away with a positive vibe from the meeting.

"I think it was a great opportunity for the out-of-town consultants to hear from county leaders and about our vision for an improved health care system," Bencie said. "I think the short-term goal will be improved access and better usage of our systems and the long-term goal will be improved county health outcomes."

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him via Twitter@RichardDymond.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Commissioners meet health board, consultants at Manatee workshop ."