A team of HMA consultants have authored a peer-reviewed journal article drawing on data from the recently completed five-year evaluation of the Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns II Initiative to discuss key considerations for implementing a group prenatal care model, including barriers to implementation and sustainability as well as strategies for overcoming barriers and sustaining the model.
Public Health
COVID-19 Education, Contact Tracing, and Care Connections: Community Health Workers Can Be Activated for Sustainable Public Health Response to Local Needs
As reported by the New York Times (An Army of Virus Tracers Takes Shape in Massachusetts, April 17), Massachusetts has hired 1,000 public health contact tracers to speed containment of COVID-19 during its surge in infections. Contact tracers are reaching out to those who have tested positive, providing information, and talking them through their recent movements and connections, using cell phones and triangulation data. They then, in turn, reach out to inform and educate those contacts.
HMA Article Highlights Value-Based Payment Models
With a focus on value-based payment (VBP) models and helping primary care practices prepare for a value-driven future, HMA experts Suzanne Daub, Caroline Rosenzweig and Meggan Christmas Schilkie will publish their article in the American Psychological Association journal Families, Systems & Health.
Medicare and Medicaid Flexibilities During Public Health Emergencies
This week, our In Focus comes from HMA Vice President Kathleen Nolan and Managing Principal Jon Blum. On March 13, 2020, President Trump declared a national emergency due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 virus. This declaration provides Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) new abilities to waive Medicare and Medicaid regulatory requirements to help health care providers, health plans and other stakeholders respond to immediate needs of their patients and communities. In the past, HHS and CMS have solicited requests for relief needs from states, local providers and trade associations, among other stakeholders. Health care providers, health plans and others should continue to monitor policy announcements from HHS and CMS and work with their states and trade associations to identify potential areas of need for requested regulatory relief.
CMS Unveils Healthy Adult Opportunity
This week, our In Focus section comes from HMA Medicaid Market Solutions (MMS) Managing Director Matt Powers and Senior Consultant Desmond Banks. On January 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) convened an event titled, Transforming Medicaid: A New Opportunity for Better Health, in Washington, DC, during which CMS Administrator Seema Verma announced the Healthy Adult Opportunity (HAO), an optional Section 1115 Medicaid Demonstration initiative. Commonly referred to as, “block grant” or “spending cap” model, the HAO seeks to provide states with enhanced flexibility to design and administer parts of their Medicaid program. Administrator Verma articulated the HAO to be an important step to support the fiscal sustainability of Medicaid and invited state Medicaid directors to submit waiver applications.
Life Plan Communities and Value-Based Payments
This week, our In Focus section reviews value-based payment (VBP) opportunities for long-term care providers. HMA Principal Dana McHugh authored the article, “Life Plan Communities and Value-Based Payments: Aligning Incentives So Everyone Benefits”, for LeadingAge national magazine, discussing how life plan communities can establish value-based payment arrangements with managed care organizations (MCOs) to maximize value and add additional revenue streams.
Highlights from Kaiser/HMA Study on Access to Reproductive Health for Low-Income Women
This week, our In Focus section reviews highlights and major findings from the study, Beyond the Numbers: Access to Reproductive Health Care for Low-Income Women in Five Communities, conducted by The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and Health Management Associates (HMA). The report, published in November 2019, was prepared by Sharon Silow-Carroll, Carrie Rosenzweig, Diana Rodin, and Rebecca Kellenberg from Health Management Associates; and by Usha Ranji, Michelle Long, and Alina Salganicoff from KFF.
HMA Colleagues Lead Health Reproductive Care Access Study
Health Management Associates (HMA), working with the Kaiser Family Foundation, recently conducted research and completed five case studies to identify distinct challenges that low-income women face in obtaining reproductive healthcare in five diverse communities, and the key factors contributing to them.
Indiana Releases Hoosier Care Connect Managed Care RFP
This week, our In Focus section reviews the Indiana Hoosier Care Connect request for proposals (RFP), issued by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning (OMPP) on October 18, 2019. Hoosier Care Connect is the state’s Medicaid managed care program for approximately 90,000 aged, blind, and disabled (ABD) Medicaid beneficiaries. Implementation is expected April 1, 2021, with contracts worth $1.4 billion annually.
Highlights from Kaiser/HMA 50-State Medicaid Director Survey
This week, our In Focus section reviews highlights and shares key takeaways from the 19th annual Medicaid Budget Survey conducted by The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and Health Management Associates (HMA). Survey results were released on October 18, 2019, in two new reports: A View from the States: Key Medicaid Policy Changes: Results from a 50-State Medicaid Budget Survey for State Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020 and Medicaid Enrollment & Spending Growth: FY 2019 & 2020. The report was prepared by Kathleen Gifford and Aimee Lashbrook from HMA; Eileen Ellis and Mike Nardone; and by Elizabeth Hinton, Robin Rudowitz, Maria Diaz, and Marina Tian from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The survey was conducted in collaboration with the National Association of Medicaid Directors.