November 4 Update

In This Week’s Update:

  • Promoting Enrollment Among DACA Recipients
  • North Carolina’s Medical Debt Relief & Reform Program
  • Recruiting for the BAC: Template Materials
  • What Do the New Census Data Say About Insurance Coverage for Children and Adults?
  • CMS Releases Sickle Cell Disease Provider Toolkit
  • Leveraging Medicaid Managed Care to Address Health-Related Social Needs
  • State updates: DE, MI, NC, ND, NM, OR, RI, WA & WI

 

Recruiting for the BAC: Template Materials
Under the Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services final rule, state Medicaid agencies will need to create and support a Beneficiary Advisory Council (BAC) and Medicaid Advisory Committee (MAC) by July 2025, with some requirements phased-in over a longer time period. SHVS created template materials, designed to support state agencies in recruiting members for the BAC. States can customize the content of the materials, which include a recruitment flyer and template social media graphics. For additional customization support, please contact SHVS.

What Do the New Census Data Say About Insurance Coverage for Children and Adults?
A new SHVS expert perspective highlights the 2023 estimates from the American Community Survey on health insurance coverage at the national and state-level. While the estimates do not fully reflect the Medicaid unwinding, the data are instructive about changes to coverage during the early months of the unwinding period and generally for the year 2023. The expert perspective examines insurance coverage for children and adults, including uninsurance rates for children by state and income level. SHVS will publish a companion expert perspective that examines coverage changes by race and ethnicity in the coming weeks.

CMS Releases Sickle Cell Disease Provider Toolkit
CMS released a Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Provider Toolkit which focuses on strengthening the infrastructure across care settings to care for people with SCD, improving care management, and supporting the needs of people with SCD. The toolkit includes information on how CMS program coverage can assist people with SCD and educational materials for individuals with SCD and other community partners who serve them.

 

Leveraging Medicaid Managed Care to Address Health-Related Social Needs 
State Health and Value Strategies will host a webinar highlighting the ways states are addressing enrollees’ health-related social needs (HRSNs) through their Medicaid managed care programs and contracts. During the webinar, experts from Bailit Health will showcase recent updates to the Addressing Health-Related Social Needs Through Medicaid Managed Care toolkit. The webinar will highlight state approaches to require and/or incentivize Medicaid plans to address HRSNs.

 

State updates: DE, MI, NC, ND, NM, OR, RI, WA & WI

  • Delaware – The Bureau of Oral Health and Dental Services (BOHDS) launched the Kindergarten Oral Health Screening Program. In partnership with the Delaware Department of Education and school nurses, BOHDS facilitates all screenings and students receive a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, dental resource guide, and the dental screening results to take home. The program was created with the passage of House Bill 83, which requires every public school and charter school to give a dental screening to students in kindergarten by the last day of the school year starting during the 2024-2025 school year.
  • Michigan – The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is seeking proposals for substance-use disorder treatment and recovery transportation services. A total of $1.2 million is available, with a maximum award of $200,000 per grantee. MDHHS anticipates issuing up to six awards. Funding is being made available through the Michigan Opioid Healing and Recovery Fund.
  • New Mexico –  The New Mexico Health Care Authority announced the launch of the Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) Academy, a free training webinar for existing and emerging MCT providers in New Mexico. The two-day, virtual training will be offered quarterly and address several topics including: the role of MCTs within the crisis continuum, engagement with special populations, risk and intervention assessment, and verbal de-escalation techniques.
  • North Carolina
    • Governor Roy Cooper signed into law a bill to provide $604 million for Hurricane Helene disaster relief, with $71.4 million dedicated to supporting local health departments, mental health services, disaster nutrition assistance and childcare, among other health-related measures. The bill comes after lawmakers passed $273 million in relief in early October.
    • The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced $5 million to help providers build capacity and implement the Collaborative Care Model in primary care offices across the state. Through the Collaborative Care Model, primary care providers work with an integrated behavioral health case manager and a psychiatric consultant to monitor and treat patients for mild to moderate behavioral health conditions. Collaborative Care is covered by NC Medicaid, Medicare and most commercial insurance plans in North Carolina.
  • North Dakota – North Dakota Health and Human Services launched a new Immunization Locator tool and Respiratory Illness Dashboard. North Dakotans can select one or multiple immunizations and look at a specific area in the state to find both immunization providers and immunizations available near them. North Dakotans can also keep up to date on the impact of respiratory illnesses in the state: the Dashboard combines data for flu, RSV, and COVID-19.
  • Oregon – The Oregon Health Authority and coordinated care organizations this month awarded a combined $37 million to community organizations across the state to help support the delivery of health-related social needs benefits to eligible Medicaid members. The Community Capacity Building Funds will support health providers and organizations to develop what they need to be able to participate in the Medicaid delivery system.
  • Rhode Island – General Treasurer James A. Diossa announced a partnership with Undue Medical Debt, creating a medical debt relief program funded with $1 million previously appropriated in the state’s fiscal year 2025 budget. SHVS has updated its expert perspective tracking state initiatives to cancel medical debt and/or prohibit medical debt reporting to credit agencies.
  • Wisconsin – CMS approved a five-year extension of Wisconsin’s section 1115 demonstration, “Wisconsin BadgerCare Reform.” Wisconsin received renewed authority to (1) provide substance-use disorder benefits to cover short-term residential services in facilities that qualify as institutions for mental diseases; (2) provide coverage to out-of-state former foster care youth up to 26 years of age, who were enrolled in Medicaid in another state and turned 18 on or before December 31, 2022; and (3) extend coverage to non-pregnant, non-disabled, non-elderly childless adults with incomes of up to 100% of the federal poverty level.
  • Oregon and Washington – The Oregon Secretary of State Audits Division, the Office of the Washington State Auditor, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, released a report examining Medicaid concurrent enrollment in Oregon and Washington. The audit is the first joint state effort to analyze Medicaid data around concurrent enrollment. The reports detailing the findings are available from the Oregon Secretary of State and Washington State Auditor.