LAURINBURG – Scotland County Board of Health voted on a new fee schedule Tuesday night for the coming year.
Patients receiving services for preventive care in the areas of child health, family planning and adult health will see a reduction in the rates.
A visit for a one-year-old new patient will drop from $185 to $140.
The board also voted on a new list of fees for the entire department for medical procedures, visits and lab fees.
Tim Martin, director of finance, told the board that the department is coming in at 7 percent under budget on expenses.
By this point in the year, the department is typically at 92 percent expenditures, but the number currently stands at 85 percent, Martin told the board.
“In some areas we’ve done really well and in some areas we’ve not done well,” Martin said. “We’re about 17 percent behind.”
Part of the shortfall came in the form of a reduced payout from Medicaid, according to Martin.
The department expected $240,000 from a cost settlement, but only received $172,000.
The number was also affected by under-performance in the child health program and maternity and family planning because the department ran into an issue with state approval for the Medicaid credentials of the new provider, which caused the department to be behind on billing by $10,000.
“They were credentialed with Medicaid just not with our agency and that [process] took almost two months,” Martin said.
The Health Department had also added three certified SIDS –Sudden Infant Death Syndrome – trainers who will help new parents on the best safe sleep practices.
Health educator and Public Information Officer Kathie Cox told the board about two new healthy eating initiatives that will be enacted at the department in June and July.
The ENERGIZE program works in conjunction with the summer feeding program to teach children the importance of eating healthy, healthy behaviors and physical activities.
The Eat Healthy, Be Active project focuses on educating adults.
“This is a program that we’re going to bring teaching adults and the underserved in poverty healthy eating and physical activity,” Cox said.