December 2022: Medicaid e-News

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December 19, 2022

Issue 10, Volume 7

Medicaid e-News

December Highlights

Happy Holidays from the Iowa Medicaid Director

Can you believe that it's that time of year already? It seems like just yesterday jack o' lanterns decked the halls, now only to be replaced with holiday decorations and festivities.

It’s been another busy year here at Iowa Medicaid. We have deployed our strategic plan, implemented legislation, launched a heightened community integration effort, increased provider rates, begun program evaluations, and developed a number of truly meaningful partnerships with providers, members and stakeholders. There will always be a lot to do in the Medicaid program, and endless ways to improve, but I’d like to take a moment to celebrate what we have accomplished together:

Developed and launched a strategic plan associated with the American Rescue Plan Act targeted at increasing access, improving quality and supporting the workforce within Home and Community-Based Services. Over $100 million dollars were deployed for direct support professional recruiting and retention bonuses, a community-based service evaluation is well underway, and a number of other initiatives primed to hit the streets in 2023.
Engaged our providers in a modernization effort with the initial focus on streamlining enrollment and credentialing. We are so excited to see this come to fruition over the next year.
Implemented a workgroup targeted at reviewing and updating prior authorizations.
Heard from Medicaid providers and enrolled members on areas, including caregiver support and maternal health, with the goal of embedding feedback into our strategic initiatives.
Embedded previous managed care implementation experience and challenges into a Request for Proposal for our managed care contracts, awarding a third contract to Molina Healthcare of Iowa to begin July 1, 2023.

We are so proud to have worked with our members, providers, Managed Care Plan (MCP) partners and stakeholders throughout the year -- together we have begun to make progress on areas that the Iowa Medicaid program has needed for years.

It is with great gratitude and a warm heart that I send all my best to you and your loved ones this holiday season. As we have proven in 2022, together we can accomplish big things and I look forward to continuing to work with all of you in 2023.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Elizabeth Matney

Iowa Medicaid Director

Members

Keep Your Loved Ones Happy and Healthy this Holiday Season

It's that time of year when families get together, share holiday tidings, reflect on the past year and share gifts. But while you're together this year, don't share sickness!

During the holiday season, good health habits such as staying home when sick, washing your hands and covering your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing are important to avoid spreading germs. Routinely clean frequently touched objects and surfaces and if you begin to feel sick, consider connecting with family and friends virtually.

Protect yourself, your family and loved ones by getting a flu shot and the COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot. By getting vaccinated for both, you can help prevent severe illness and protect the people around you.

Learn more about healthy habits this holiday season here.

Molina Healthcare to Host a Listening Session for LTSS Members and Caregivers

Molina Healthcare is convening a listening session on January 18, 2023, at 5 p.m. (CST) for individuals receiving long term support services, their family members and providers. The purpose of this engagement is to listen, hear and discuss critical issues and priorities for persons with disabilities, their families, service providers and other stakeholders. As Molina Healthcare prepares to launch, their team values hearing from members and their families about what is important to them in delivering services and supports to achieve the lives they want.

We look forward to your attendance and participation. If you have any questions or comments and would like to attend, please contact Jenny Ledvina or by calling (425)548-3972.

Member Warning About EBT and Other Services Scams

This year, Iowa HHS received reports that some Iowans are receiving text messages saying their EBT card is locked and provides a number for assistance. Iowa HHS did not send these messages and asks that members never share their card number or PIN numbers with anyone. Neither the USDA nor Iowa HHS will ever text a member regarding issues with your EBT card or other benefits.

If you were scammed or think you saw a scam, tell the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) here.

The 2022 Iowa Medicaid Reference Guide is Now Available to the Public

Iowa Medicaid is pleased to announce that the 2022 Iowa Medicaid Reference Guide is now available for the public to view on the member services webpage on the Iowa HHS website. Learn about all the services and supports the Medicaid program has to offer to determine if Iowa Medicaid is right for you and your family.

The reference guide can also be viewed here.

Kick off your New Year Right by Enrolling in the Diabetes Prevention Program

Iowa Medicaid is searching for members in Boone, Story and Marshall Counties to sign up for the Diabetes Prevention Program at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames. This completely FREE pilot program teaches those with prediabetes, or who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, how to lose weight and gain strength and learn healthy eating habits with a trained lifestyle coach and peer support groups.

Providers

Molina Healthcare of Iowa Prepares for Provider Test Claims

Molina Healthcare continues its network development activities. Network participation agreements were mailed to providers in late October.

If providers have questions pertaining to the agreement or your organization did not receive an agreement, please contact them here. Executed agreements can be returned to the same email address.

Claims testing and timelines: Molina Healthcare wishes to do extensive claim testing in early February 2023 across the continuum of provider types and services. Providers will need to be contracted in order to test claims with Molina Healthcare. Please return executed contracts prior to 1/1/2023 in order to be eligible to participate in claims testing.

Molina Healthcare looks forward to working with providers to service members starting July 1, 2023.

View 2022 Provider Trainings

The Iowa Medicaid Competency-Based Trainings have been a hit this year! December marks ten months of free trainings to our providers. We have new topics in store for 2023 and look forward to hearing your feedback to know what else you would like to see. Over the past 10 months, we have had around 20 hours of free training offered to providers through this program.

Find recordings of all trainings along with handouts or power point presentations here.

RECORDINGS AVAILABLE:

Incident Reporting
Behavior Intervention Plan Development
CMS Settings: State Transition Plan Update
Introduction to Waiver Services in Iowa
Positive Behavior Supports
Mental Health Crisis Response
Adopting a Trauma Lens in Children's Services
Introduction to Motivational Interviewing
Person-centered Planning
Service Documentation (general and for HCBS Providers)
Assistive Technology with Easterseals Iowa

RECORDINGS COMING SOON:

Transitions in Care – Hospital to Community-Based Care
LTSS Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement

Full links to webpages mentioned:

Training Archive: https://dhs.iowa.gov/Providers/tools-trainings-and-services/CBT-for-LTSS/Archive

Stakeholders

Department of Justice Files Consent Decree Following Glenwood Investigation

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a proposed settlement agreement and consent decree with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa today following an investigation into conditions at Glenwood Resource Center (GRC) which began in November 2019.

The agreement contains nearly 300 separate provisions for improved care and services at GRC and comes after years of ongoing negotiations between the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and DOJ. HHS must demonstrate substantial work toward all the provisions to be in compliance with the agreement. HHS has worked diligently over the last three years to address many of the concerns identified during the investigation.

In April 2022, Governor Reynolds and legislative leaders announced the closure of GRC in 2024. Since the announcement, GRC staff has worked with residents, families, guardians, and other stakeholders to identify safe and appropriate placements for each resident at Glenwood. To date, 32 residents have transitioned to other settings.

At the heart of our approach is ensuring targeted investments to build out high-quality community capacity that ensures adequate supports exist throughout Iowa. Multiple providers have expressed an interest in serving GRC residents in community settings – rather than institutions – across Iowa. This is evident in GRC’s historically low census of 118 today. But there is still substantial work to do.

HHS is committed to providing the highest level of care possible at Glenwood, until the last resident transitions.

The full consent decree, along with previous DOJ reports, findings, summary documents, improvement actions, and resources can be viewed here.

Iowa Selected as One of Seven States for Continued Effort to Improve Employment Outcomes for People with Mental Health Conditions

The U.S. Department of Labor announced the selection of seven states, including Iowa, to participate in the second round of an initiative to align state policy and funding to advance competitive integrated employment for individuals with mental health conditions.

Administered by the department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy, the Advancing State Policy Integration for Recovery and Employment initiative provides states with tailored and targeted technical assistance to expand evidence-based practices, such as the Individual Placement and Support model of supported employment.

The states of Florida, Indiana, Iowa and Virginia – participants in the ASPIRE initiative’s first round – will return for the second round, with Louisiana, Montana and New York chosen to receive first-time assistance.

Learn more about this effort here.

Managed Care Plan (MCP) Updates

Amerigroup Iowa Receives Accreditation for Health Equity

Iowa Medicaid is proud to announce that Amerigroup Iowa was one of 21 of Elevance Health's affiliated medical plans named first in the nation to earn a three-year accreditation for health equity from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). This accreditation shows Amerigroup's commitment to advancing health equity and prioritizing the health needs of the Iowa Medicaid population. Congrats to our partners at Amerigroup!

Read the press release here.

Easterseals Iowa Recognizes Iowa Total Care as 2022 Corporate Volunteer

On November 10, Iowa Total Care (ITC) was recognized by Easterseals Iowa during their Iowa Annual Celebration Gala as their “2022 Corporate Volunteer of the Year Award” recipient.

This award was achieved due to the support and volunteerism of ITC staff at Bob & Billie Ray Child Development Center, Sunnyside Campus, and providing education resources for members and their caretakers.

Easterseals Iowa released a press release that provided additional partnership details and showcases how important ITC is to many of the Easterseals members and staff.

This is one way Iowa Total Care demonstrates our purpose of transforming the health of the community, one person at a time.

Amerigroup Iowa Donates Two Grants to Local Iowa Non-Profits

Amerigroup Iowa gave a $20,000 grant to Growing Together Iowa and a $90,000 grant to Nishna Productions, Inc. The first grant for Growing Together Iowa will support a statewide community garden initiative that will provide an estimated 90,000 pounds of fresh produce to area food pantries. The second grant went towards purchasing a regular-sized van with four wheelchair tie-downs for residents moving from Glenwood Resource Center and into their communities.

To read the whole story behind the grants, read about Growing Together Iowa here and Nishna Productions, Inc. here.

Tooth Fairy Tricks

Try to avoid the sugary candies and food this holiday season and swap them out for some fruity dishes to sedate your sweet tooth. Sugary foods can stick to your teeth which can cause cavities!

MCNA Dental Launches Member Portal

MCNA Dental has launched a portal to help members stay up-to-date on their oral healthcare. The portal provides a quick and easy way to access your dental benefits.

Learn more about the member portal by watching this video.

Member Success Stories

Amerigroup Case Worker Goes Above and Beyond for Member Facing Homelessness

In August 2022, an Iowa Medicaid member was living with his son when the environment became unsafe. Leaving his son's home left him without a place to live and without any support, until a dedicated Amerigroup case manager stepped in.

The case manager assisted this member and helped him access multiple local resources to secure housing, food and meals, household items, doctor appointments, and various social services – all to ensure the member had the supports they need to not experience homelessness. Specifically, the case manager did the following:

Secured housing for the member – the case manager continuously located funding sources to help the member receive temporary housing in a hotel for nearly a month (most resources only fund up to two weeks) and helped find assistance with paying first month’s rent and deposit for the member. The case manager also helped coordinate another temporary stay with the member’s sister. The case manager assisted the member with contacting area landlords about apartment vacancies, as well as completing applications, due to the member being illiterate, until a permanent solution was found.
Helped member secure food boxes to have available during his stay in the hotel, which consisted of contacting area resources about food box availability, picking up the food boxes and delivering those boxes to the hotel.
Shopped on the member’s behalf at the Benevolent Society for clothes and household items, due to these items being left at his son’s home.
Secured critical services for the member, including Consumer Directed Attendant Care (for assistance with cleaning, laundry and shopping), home-delivered meals and Personal Emergency Response.
Secured a doctor, with the member’s first appointment scheduled to discuss setting up home-health services, including a Home Health Aide and Visiting Nurse to help with his medications.
Delivered a microwave to the member so he has access to safely heat up his home-delivered meals.

Iowa Medicaid is proud to work with case workers like the one above with Amerigroup. Making sure our members have proper access to the care services they need is what we hope the organization can consistently achieve.

Let's Discuss

Medicaid events and things to know

Registration for the December 2022 Town Halls is Now Open

December registration is now open for Iowa Medicaid's monthly Town Halls.

Providers and members may also join the Iowa Medicaid Town Halls event on Facebook to receive updates and links for upcoming Town Halls.

The upcoming Town Halls Schedule is as follows:

Thursday, December 29, 2022
Thursday, January 27, 2023
Thursday, February 23, 2023

To register:

Providers may sign up for the December session online here. Providers, please feel free to share this information with members.
Members may sign up for the December Town Halls online here. Members who need assistance in registering may contact Iowa Medicaid Member Services at 1-800-338-8366

Advance registration is encouraged but not required. Login credentials for the virtual meeting will be shared with those who have registered on the day of the meeting.