The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) today announced Aetna Better Health of West Virginia has been selected to serve as the Managed Care Organization (MCO) for the specialized managed care program for children and youth in adoption and foster care placement, and the state’s Children with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) waiver.
The implementation of managed care services for the state’s child welfare population will aim to streamline the administration of health services; tailor services to meet the needs of enrolled populations; coordinate care for members; and work to transition members from out-of-state care to community-based treatment in West Virginia. In addition, the state will integrate the oversight of its Socially Necessary Services (SNS) program under this contract to promote a holistic approach to care management for both medical and social services.
“West Virginia is in the midst of a child welfare crisis, and DHHR believes the utilization of an MCO to help provide coordinated care to this vulnerable population will assist us in addressing this issue,” said Jeremiah Samples, Deputy Secretary for DHHR.
Aetna Better Health of West Virginia (formerly Coventry Health Care) has been serving members of the West Virginia Medicaid program since 1996. Currently, Aetna provides services to more than 137,000 Medicaid members. The Specialized Managed Care Program will transition approximately 20,000 new members to Aetna for care coordination services.