On Wednesday, members of the Ventura County Medi-Cal Managed Care Commission will meet with candidates applying for the positions of CEO and CFO of Gold Coast Health Plan, according to the commission's chair, the Ventura County Star reports (Ventura County Star, 6/18).
Background
Gold Coast Health Plan launched in 2011 as an HMO-style alternative for certain beneficiaries of Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program. The plan administers Medi-Cal to more than 100,000 Ventura County residents who are low-income or who have disabilities.
In the spring, the California Department of Health Care Services requested an audit of the managed-care plan after receiving complaints about late payments and poor management (California Healthline, 4/9).
The audit raised concerns about how Gold Coast beneficiaries have been assigned to clinics and physicians (California Healthline, 4/3).
In addition, a report from the Berkeley Research Group found that actual costs for Gold Coast Health Plan at times have been higher than reported expenses.
The findings have raised concern among state officials about the plan's solvency (California Healthline, 3/27).
Personnel Changes
In March, Earl Greenia resigned as CEO of Gold Coast. The following month, Cassie Undlin was hired as interim CEO (Ventura County Star, 6/18).
In addition, the CFO of Gold Coast resigned in January, and the plan's human resources director and interim director of operations were dismissed in February (California Healthline, 3/12).
The Berkeley Research Group report noted that "operations may be negatively impacted" because of turnover of management staff (California Healthline, 3/27).
Hiring Details
Robert Gonzalez -- chair of the commission -- said the group will meet with CEO and CFO candidates in closed-door meetings.
Gonzalez said that he hopes the commission will reach a decision Wednesday on hiring a CEO (Ventura County Star, 6/18).