Table of Contents
- Communications Summit Set for February 12
- HBX Authority Meets February 7
- Update on District Medicaid Health Home Initiative
- Medicaid Training Cancelled
- District HBX Staff Meet with CCIIO
- CMS Issues ACA-related Proposed Rules
- Public Meeting Calendar
www.healthreform.dc.gov
www.dchbx.com
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 “Creating Effective Outreach Strategies for Empowering Consumers to Choose New Health Insurance Plans” is the theme of the Communications Summit now scheduled for February 12, from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.
The purpose of the Summit is to bring together the resources of DC government agencies, industry partners and community stakeholders to develop strategies to reach DC residents with consistent and effective messages about health care reform and enrolling in affordable health plans through the District’s Health Benefit Exchange (HBX). The morning of the Summit is designed for government stakeholders only; the afternoon session from 1PM to 4:30 PM is open to community stakeholders.
The Summit will address health reform and exchange enrollment strategies from a consumer perspective and will allow for small group discussions on the role of key stakeholders in educating District residents about health reform. Presentations will include an overview of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), changes to Medicaid, and access to the Exchange.
In the morning, government agencies involved in health care reform initiatives will discuss key messaging and outreach strategies for enrolling residents in quality health plans and expanded Medicaid services. In the afternoon session, community stakeholders will be engaged in discussions about communicating health reform and enrollment messages to the District’s diverse audiences.
To register for the Summit, please click here. All Summit attendees are asked to complete this pre-summit survey by Friday, February 8.
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Attend the next HBX Authority Executive Board Public Meeting on Thursday, February 7 at 5:30 PM at One Judiciary Square, 441 4th Street NW, South Lobby, Board of Education Chambers. The meeting agenda is found here.
Visit the HBX Authority website, www.dchbx.com, for more information about Exchange activities. The website will also be a central place to learn about future HBX job opportunities, events, contracts and grants. You can also use the website to submit a request for a speaker for your organization or event.
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In 2012, the Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) was awarded a planning grant to design health homes tailored to the needs of chronically ill beneficiaries who, through better care management and coordination, would most likely experience improved health outcomes and reductions in ER visits and avoidable hospital admissions. DHCF is working to identify these beneficiaries through the analysis of Medicaid claims and managed care encounter data. Additionally, the District will hire a consultant to provide strategic planning services, including stakeholder engagement tactics, to develop Medicaid health homes. DHCF anticipates implementing DC Medicaid health home services in fiscal year 2014.
Medicaid health homes, as established by Section 2703 of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), are created to be person-centered approaches to care that integrate behavioral health care, primary health services and long-term community-based services and supports.
To be eligible for health home services, Medicaid beneficiaries must have at least two chronic conditions (including mental health condition, substance abuse disorder, asthma, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease); a chronic condition and be at risk for another; or one serious and persistent mental health condition. States can focus health home services on beneficiaries with particular chronic conditions or those with a greater rate or complexity of mental or chronic health conditions. However, health home services cannot target populations by age, sex or payment structure (example: fee-for-service vs. managed care).
For more information about the District’s Medicaid health home program, contact Dena Hasan.
The training on Medicaid for community partners through the Medicaid Outreach Project, originally scheduled for February 11, has been cancelled. Information on the rescheduled date will be sent out as soon as it is available.
District Exchange staff, including HBX Executive Director Mila Kofman, attended a meeting convened by the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) for the 12 state-based Exchanges that have been conditionally approved. The purpose of the January 27 and 28 meeting was to discuss high-level priority exchange building matters, including fiscal sustainability, market effectiveness and price affordability, consumer and stakeholder outreach, human capital management and CCIIO oversight. CCIIO provided updates on a wide range of topics and heard from states about important issues they felt required further federal guidance.
The meeting provided an opportunity for District Exchange planners to share information with other conditionally-approved states. In addition to Executive Director Kofman, staff members directly involved in Exchange implementation as well as members from the District’s IT vendor team were in attendance.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that addressed changes required by the Affordable Care Act related to Medicaid, the Children’s Health insurance Program (CHIP), and Exchange premium tax credits and cost-sharing assistance. Comments about the proposed rules are due back to CMS by February 13.
Some of the specific topics covered by the NPRM include how eligibility is determined across the various programs, the processes of enrollment and renewal, fair hearings, availability of information, Federal Financial Participation (FFP) clarifications, presumptive eligibility, and alignment with exchange enrollment. The proposed rule also addressed enrollment into qualified health plans, appeals procedures, and premiums and cost sharing.
Last month, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and CMS also released 2 new proposed rules related to the individual requirement to purchase health insurance.
Thursday, February 7, 5:30 PM
Health Benefit Exchange (HBX) Authority Executive Board Public Meeting
One Judiciary Square, 441 4th Street NW, South Lobby, Board of Education Chambers
Tuesday, February 12, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Communications Summit
Mount Vernon Place Conference Center
900 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Thursday, February 14, 10 AM
HRIC Medicaid Expansion and Eligibility Subcommittee Meeting
Department of Human Services, 645 H Street NE, 4th Floor Conference Room
Thursday, February 14, 2 PM
HRIC Health Delivery System Subcommittee Meeting
Department of Health, 899 North Capitol Street NE, Room 407
The HBX authority will be recruiting for senior level positions to help implement the DC Health Benefit Exchange. Check the HBX website for future information about available positions and the process for applying for them.
HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT HEALTH REFORM OR THE HEALTH BENEFIT EXCHANGE?
Visit the District health reform website and the Health Benefit Exchange (HBX) website. If you can’t find your answer at either place, send your question to hbx@dchbx.com. We will try to address it in a future newsletter.
Produced by The Crider Group
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