Medicaid clients to get service cards

About 183,000 people on Medicaid in Spokane and northeastern Washington will receive service cards replacing monthly paper coupons beginning this week. The plastic cards are part of the new payment system called ProviderOne, which begins May 9 for about a million people on medical assistance statewide. The Department of Social and Health Services said the service cards are being distributed free to qualified Medicaid clients. This month only, clients are asked to take both the card and the monthly coupon when seeking medical care, but beginning in May the coupons will no longer be mailed out.