THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 7, 1997 TAG: 9702070520
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 50 lines
Options Health Care, a national mental-health management company based in Norfolk, has landed a $170 million contract to care for Medicaid clients in Ohio.
The two-year contract, a joint project with an Ohio company, will cover more than 1 million Ohio clients of Medicaid, the government health insurance plan for the poor.
Options and its partner will provide a variety of mental-health services, including substance abuse treatment, hospital care and outpatient psychiatric care.
The contract, which starts later this year, will run for two years, with an option for the state to renew, company officials said. Options is headed by Norfolk psychiatrist Ronald I. Dozoretz.
Options' partner in the venture is AccessOhio, a behavioral health network in Ohio. The two will run the contract under the name Ohio Behavioral Health Partnership.
Ohio's move to privatize some health care for the poor reflects a national trend, as states look to private business to rein in the costs and take on the management duties of welfare programs.
Ohio officials say cost control is not their goal. They say granting the contract to Options will help them organize their large system and make it more efficient.
``They bring the kind of managed care expertise that could really serve to manage this benefit well,'' said Tim Tomlinson, with the Ohio Department of Mental Health's fiscal policy office.
Options has secured a number of Medicaid contracts over the past few years, usually forming a partnership with a local company when it does business in another state. The company also handles private and federal contracts.
Options holds the following Medicaid contracts:
Colorado - 100,000 people covered.
Florida - 100,000 people covered.
Massachusetts - 460,000 people covered.
Nebraska - 100,000 people covered.
Tennessee - 700,000 people covered.
Options also runs mental health services for Puerto Rico's version of Medicaid, covering 350,000 people. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Norfolk-based Options Health Care's Medicaid contracts:
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KEYWORDS: OPTIONS HEALTH CARE MEDICAID