MEGAN HOOD

newsdesk@newsaegis.com

Governor Bentley recently signed a new Senate Bill 340. House Health Committee Chair and Springville Representative Jim McClendon co-sponsored this bill, which has been put in place to improve patient care and promote Alabama Medicaid efficiency.

“We’re providing a way to improve care for people on Medicaid and make smarter use of the tax dollars that support the program,” said Governor Bentley. “This bill will benefit people enrolled in Medicaid by helping them have access to well-managed care. This bill will benefit taxpayers by controlling costs to the state. This represents an important milestone in our efforts to make Alabama Medicaid a more efficient and more affordable program.”

McClendon said that eligible Medicaid recipients would be able to continue seeing their regular doctors and could continue using their preferred hospitals. He said that one major change would be that these recipients would be more informed, and the quality of care is expected to increase.

“This bill will provide better quality.We intend to make Medicaid recipients more knowledgeable about the medical care they are receiving,” said McClendon.

McClendon said an increase in quality, knowledge and efficiency are not the only things to be expected. He said that this bill would also include taxpayer benefits.

“By controlling the escalating cost of healthcare this will help reduce the burden on the state’s General Fund, which in turn will help support funding of the many state agencies that depend on the General Fund for survival,” the representative said.

It was my pleasure to work hand-in-hand with Governor Bentley, Senator Reed and Dr. Williamson in crafting this unique approach of providing essential services to those who are most in need,” said McClendon.