State Health Care Contract with Ballwin-Area Vendor Ending?

Health care advocates Tuesday said services under the company SynCare, which lists its state headquarters in Ballwin, have "been a complete disaster from the beginning," putting the company's state contract worth more than $5 million a year now in jeopardy, multiple news groups reported.

Those statements come about two weeks after the company announced layoffs for 29 employees at its "Ballwin" office, which is located east of Route 141 near Barrett Station and Manchester roads. SynCare executives previously told employees that the layoffs resulted from a shortfall in state funding. The employees were told they would be invited back to work beginning Sept. 30.

The state contract states SynCare would be responsible for determining who qualifies for Medicaid services in Missouri, the Associated Press reported. In addition to reviewing records to see who qualifies for medical services, SynCare also provided various consulting and home-based care and assistance services.

A private consultant once estimated that the state would save $3.4 million annually by having a third party screen patients for Medicaid eligibility, which state lawmakers approved last year, the AP reported.

This week, critics alleged that patients being served by the company experienced decreased services or in some cases stopped entirely since the state contract started in May.

"These are not isolated incidents," Imre Komaromi, a legislative advocate with the Independent Living Resource Center in Jefferson City, said in the AP report. "It's something that's happening systematically, statewide."

Another health care advocate, Aimee Wehmeier, executive director of Services for Independent Living, said at a news conference Tuesday morning that SynCare hasn't met its obligations as part of a "systematic failure" to provide services, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported.

“We have been working with them since May, and it has not improved; it has gotten worse,” Wehmeier said in the Columbia Daily Tribune.

Internally, too, the company has recently experienced turmoil.

At least one former SynCare employee contacted Ballwin-Ellisville Patch shortly after the "workforce reduction" was announced and said employee mileage and other expenses owed to SynCare employees were outstanding.

The former employee also said SynCare representative Brenda Williams suggested employees' compensation may be withheld depending on the condition of borrowed equipment and accuracy of mileage reports. The former employee asked not to be identified fearing his or her statement may jeopardize the company's offer to return to work in September.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday that a state department head is discussing early termination of the contract with the Ballwin-area provider.

"But a decision needs to be based on how providers and clients will be affected by (termination)," Peter Lyskowski, deputy director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services told lawmakers Wednesday, the Post-Dispatch reported.