County Connections Newsletter
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This Department of Health Care Policy & Financing newsletter is designed to inform county directors, management and staff about county performance, policy changes, process updates, upcoming due dates, and more
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High-Impact Policy and Process Updates
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Letter from the Executive Director
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This month, I want to address the third pillar of our Department Performance Plan:
Improving Member Health.
Improving member health is a core focus for the Department. It transcends almost every aspect of what we do – from the creation of new policies and cost control initiatives, to our emerging analytics innovations, and how we will measure our partners’ performance going forward. Even our mission is being modernized to reflect the importance of improving member health.
Look for an emerging health score in Q1 of 2020 from the Department that will provide better insights into member health by individual, by the Primary Care Practices assigned to care for our members, by Regional Accountable Entities which take accountability for the programs that improve their health and the like. Measuring and improving health is what you will see from the Department in 2020.
This vision builds upon this fiscal year’s Department Performance Plan goal: Develop a health score for every member so we can better serve them. Each Health First Colorado (Colorado’s Medicaid program) member is an individual and we use data and analytics to learn how to best serve our members while ensuring the most effective use of limited resources.
The entire performance plan, including more detail on the five pillars and how we measure progress is available
on our website
.
Thank you for your partnership and dedication to our members and their health.
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Public Option Recommendation to make Health Care More Affordable
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On Friday, November 5, the Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI) and the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) delivered their final report for the development of a Public Option for affordable health insurance to the Colorado Legislature. This report is the result of House Bill 19-1004 (
HB19-1004
) passed in the last legislative session, which directed the two agencies to create a plan for such an option. On average, the actuarial analysis accompanying the report estimates that premiums will be reduced 10 percent; in many parts of the state, Coloradans are estimated to save more than 15 percent.
The Public Option recommendation is based on extensive stakeholder engagement over the past six months. HCPF, DOI, and the Lieutenant Governor hosted 20 public listening sessions in Alamosa, Aurora, Boulder, Burlington, Denver, Durango, Edwards, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Greeley, Hugo, Keystone, and Pueblo. They received more than 260 written comments, conducted three focus groups, released a draft for comment, and publicly posted all materials. Our recommendation responds to the innovative ideas and thoughtful input raised during this process.
We appreciate the contributions of all our stakeholders in the development of this proposal. Thank you for your time, participation and recommendations--we couldn't have done it without you.
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HCPF Regional Meetings on Substance Use Disorder Treatment Capacity
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The Department of Health Care Policy & Financing will host a series of Regional Capacity Meetings from December 2019 through February 2020. These meetings will focus on the state’s substance use disorder (SUD) treatment capacity and demand for services according to American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) levels mapped across the state, as well as strategies to identify and address needs or gaps in services.
The Department invites stakeholders, partner agencies, treatment providers, local government officials and members of the public to participate in these open meetings, ask questions and provide input.
Participants are encouraged to register for meetings in advance and see additional information about the meetings via the RSVP link provided on the Department’s
Ensuring a Full Continuum of SUD Benefits
webpage under “Regional Capacity Meetings.” RSVPs will be received until two weeks before the date of each meeting.
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This link
is a summary of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing’s (the Department) discretionary budget requests submitted to the Colorado General Assembly for consideration as part of the Governor’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-21 budget, which runs from July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021.
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Recent Memo Series Issued to Counties
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IM 19-065
The purpose of this Informational Memo is to inform county departments of human/social services of quarterly support calls for the County Incentives Program. The support calls are intended to clarify and answer questions about the County Incentives Program and to assist counties in meeting and/or exceeding this year's performance benchmarks and deliverables successfully. Please note these calls are optional.
IM 19-063
The purpose of this Informational Memo is to announce a webinar designed for a wider audience including Health First Colorado members, family members, community resource agencies, and potential providers to understand the new Transition Services landscape.
IM 19-061
The purpose of this memo is to inform stakeholders the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (Department) has posted the Request for Proposal (RFP), soliciting proposals from organizations who are interested in performing as a Single Entry Point (SEP) agency
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HCPF Informational Updates
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Resident Expert Feedback Survey
The CBMS Project Team wants to extend a sincere and grateful
thank you
to all of you who served as Resident Experts throughout CBMS Transformation. Your hard work in supporting your colleagues throughout CBMS Transformation was invaluable to the success of the initiative. From our most recent Stakeholder survey, 69% of respondents reported that Resident Experts and peers were the most useful resource throughout Transformation.
We could not have done it without you! If you have time over the next few days, please take a few minutes to fill out
this feedback survey
to let us know more about your experience in the program and help us understand ways we can better organize in-person support for CBMS users in the future.
Thank you again!
November CBMS Transformation
Queue
Newsletter
This month’s Queue
features
Tips and Tricks for Submitting a Help Desk Ticket
,
How Do I Track or Update My HDT?
,
Changes Coming to the County Dashboard
,
Upcoming CBMS Outage for SSA COLA
, and
CBMS Advisory Page.
Key Build information, document, and feedback links are displayed in the boxes in the left-hand margin. The bottom box will always display Sudoku links.
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Hospital Transformation Program Update
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1115 Demonstration application
Beginning November 10, the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (Department) began engaging stakeholders, through public comment and public hearings, for the waiver component of the Hospital Transformation Program (HTP). The waiver will be submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on December 31, 2019 and a specific section on the
HTP website
was created to serve as an information hub for all component updates and documents.
Public Comment
The public notice pertaining to HTP was published on November 10, 2019 to the
Colorado Register
. Upon publication, the Department alerted stakeholders via email and will continue to accept comments and inquiries until Sunday, December 15, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. MST. During the public comment period, comments may be sent to
COHTP@state.co.us
and submitted via the United States Postal Service using the following address: Special Financing Division Director, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing, 1570 Grant Street, Denver, Colorado 80203, ATTN: Public Comment - HTP DSRIP.
Public Hearings
The Department invites stakeholders to attend public hearings in person or to join by teleconference/webinar to learn more about Colorado's 1115 Demonstration application and provide comments. A list of public hearings can be found on the
HTP Waiver website
.
If you’re like to know more about the HTP, we encourage you to visit
the HTP website
as well as read past editions of the HTP Newsletter in
our online archives
. If you have additional questions about the HTP, please contact
Courtney Ronner
, Hospital Relations and Communication Manager, at 303-866-2699.
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The Process for Submitting a Disability Determination Application to Arbor (ARG)
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Arbor/ARG will no longer accept applications from Non-Department approved sources.
This is not a new process and has been outlined within the scope of the contract that the department holds with Arbor/ARG.
Reasons why:
10 CCR 2505-10 8.100.5.A(b)
The Medical assistance disability determination application shall be collected by a designated eligibility site representative and shall be forwarded to the state disability determination contractor upon completion. The state disability determination contractor shall conduct a client disability determination and shall forward the determination to the designated eligibility site representative.
It is the responsibility of Medical Assistance Sites/County Human Service offices to review the disability application for completeness prior to sending to the disability vendor.
- The State pays Arbor per application and when they receive applications from third-parties, they have no way to verify if there is a valid open Medicaid case on file or in process.
We discovered there were some exceptions being made to allow the acceptance of third-party applications previously, however the process has been clarified with the vendor while working with them on their contract this past spring.
As a reminder Arbor (ARG) will only accept applications from approved Medical Assistance Sites/County Human Service offices.
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NOTE:
The Medical Assistance Sites/County Human Service offices is responsible to send the Disability Application to ARG for processing.
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ARG will reject applications that do not conform to this process.
The department wants to ensure clarity with the enforced process. We appreciate your participation moving forward.
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Public Rule Review Meeting
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Public Rule Review meetings
are an opportunity for stakeholders to have one-on-one conversation with the Department's rule author regarding draft rules.
Public Rule Review meetings happen on the second Monday after the second Friday of each month. Stakeholders can attend in person or can e-mail feedback to the rule author before the rule goes to the Medical Services Board (MSB).
This does not take the place of public testimony at the MSB meeting and anyone who wishes is invited to come to the meeting to address the Board directly.
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County Grant & County Incentives Programs
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FY 2019-20 County Incentive Program
New Resources!
- Food Security SNAP individual report sent to counties on 11/14. Please contact team if you need help accessing this report.
- Monthly Aggregate data for the Food Security Incentive can now be found on the County Admin webpage under "Incentives Program Data"
- October's Case Maintenance Data reports have been posted to the County Admin webpage under "Incentives Program Data"
Updates
- The Department is considering the best method for a statewide exemption for the Eligibility Performance Incentive for Reporting Period 1 due to CBMS Transformation
- The Department will send counties a list of all individuals subject to the Training Incentive requirements in early January, after Reporting Period 1 has ended.
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FY 2019-20 County Grant Program
- Quarter 2 grant check ins are scheduled for Mid- to Late-December.
- The Quarterly Check In matrix has changed! More information will be sent directly to Grant Project Managers.
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Timeliness for October 2019
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Timeliness for all Medical Assistance
applications
was measured at
92.86 percent
.
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Timeliness for all Medical Assistance
redeterminations
was measured at
95.79 percent
.
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Connect For Health Colorado Open Enrollment Resources
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Connect for Health Colorado (C4HCO) Open Enrollment begins November 1, 2019, and ends January 15, 2020.
Please remove all C4HCO inboxes from previous Open Enrollments, including the Case Transfer inbox from your email, and use only the County Partners Inbox, as the others are now inactive
. Please only send one case per email. We cannot process email requests that have more than one case included.
Free, in-person help is available from our certified C4HCO enrollment experts located throughout the state. If anyone in the community you serve needs help, you can refer them to one of our experts to ensure they get the right health insurance coverage and financial help.
Find assistance in your area.
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Department Contacts & Resources
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The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing complies with applicable federal and state civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic or national origin, ancestry, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, religion, creed, political beliefs, or disability.
Learn more about our Nondiscrimination Policy
.
ATENCIÓN: si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-800-221-3943 (State Relay: 711).
CHÚ Ý: Nếu bạn nói Tiếng Việt, có các dịch vụ hỗ trợ ngôn ngữ miễn phí dành cho bạn. Gọi số 1-800-221-3943 (State Relay: 711).
For further information about this policy, to request free disability and/or language aids and services, or to file a discrimination complaint, contact:
504/ADA Coordinator
1570 Grant St
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: 303-866-6010, Fax: 303-866-2828, State Relay: 711
Civil rights complaints can also be filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights electronically through the
Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal
or by mail, phone, or fax at:
1961 Stout Street Room 08-148
Denver, CO 80294
Telephone: 800-368-1019, Fax: 202-619-3818, TDD: 800-537-7697
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Colorado Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing
(303) 866-2993 | 1570 Grant Street, Denver, CO 80203
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