Back-to-School Marketing
Keep an eye open for bus ads promoting the FAMIS programs posted in more than 650 buses! They are in Hampton Roads, Prince William, Fairfax and the greater Richmond metropolitan area, including Petersburg.
In August, 1.5 million FAMIS fliers were shipped to all Virginia public schools. The fliers will be distributed by local school systems with other important Back-to-School information sent home to families during the early weeks of the new academic year.
For more information about the Back-to-School campaign,
click here
. Free FAMIS/Medicaid marketing materials (brochures, posters) can be ordered from
Cover Virginia
.
Cover Virginia Call Center and Central Processing Unit (CPU) Updates
Cover Virginia is now processing CommonHelp applications and determining eligibility for all CommonHelp-submitted Medicaid/FAMIS only cases.
CommonHelp Updates
The Virginia Department of Social Services continues to make changes to CommonHelp to make it more user-friendly. Families will find the instructions for resetting their passwords used for CommonHelp on the CommonHelp webpage. They can also contact the CommonHelp HelpDesk (again published on CommonHelp) if they experience any problems.
Application Assistors
who attach documents to a CommonHelp application should put a note in the Additional Information Box, just before the applicant signature, indicating that there are attachments to the application. Then, when the local DSS or CoverVirginia staff download the application, they will be reminded to look for the attachments.
Policy Updates from the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS)
- Coverage of Insect Repellents for Zika Prevention
Beginning August 22, 2016, Medicaid for Pregnant Women, FAMIS, FAMIS Plus, FAMIS MOMS, and the Governor's Access Plan (GAP) now cover mosquito repellent to prevent infection with the Zika virus. Pregnant women or women and men of child bearing years (ages 14 - 44) are eligible to receive a prescription for one can/bottle of insect repellent, with one refill allowed p
er calendar month. For information about this new benefit go to the
Zika Prevention page
. For more information about the Zika virus, click here.
- Continuing Coverage for Deemed Newborns
Auto-cancellations of Deemed Newborns at their first birthday will no longer occur, starting October 1, 2016. Eligibility workers at local departments of social services will receive reports showing these babies as overdue renewals, so families can be contacted to renew coverage.
- Correction: Behavioral Therapy Now a Benefit Under FAMIS and FAMIS Plus
Starting September 1, 2016, Behavioral Therapy will be a covered benefit under FAMIS, in addition to EPSDT for FAMIS Plus (Medicaid for Children
,
where the primary insurer must be considered first, as in all Medicaid benefit plans),
and Fee-for-Service FAMIS. The last newsletter indicated a July 1, 2016 start-date for this benefit.
Behavioral Therapy covers services including, but not limited to, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
Behavioral Therapy is not an autism-specific or ABA-specific service.
Behavioral Therapy is designed to enhance communication skills, and decrease behaviors which, if left untreated, could lead to more complex problems. Services are designed to help the child's family manage the behavior in the home using behavioral modification strategies.
Behavioral Therapy must be recommended by a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant who is familiar with the developmental history and current status of the child.
Reminder:
The Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit provides comprehensive and preventive health care services for children under age 21 who are enrolled in Medicaid. EPSDT is key to ensuring that children and adolescents receive appropriate preventive, dental, mental health, and developmental, and specialty services. A treatment or medical need diagnosed during an EPSDT visit must be paid for by Medicaid.
SignUpNow
Trainings
Five SignUpNow State-Sponsored Health Insurance for Children and Pregnant Women trainings will be held around the Commonwealth in November and December. The 3.5 hour face-to-face trainings will be held in: Alexandria, Charlottesville, Radford, Richmond and Suffolk or Virginia Beach. Details will be available in early October and will be posted here. If you are not able to attend a live training, consider completing the
SignUpNow on-demand, on-line training
.
The on-line training now includes information about coverage for parents and caretakers under Low Income Families with Children (LIFC) Medicaid.
New Federal Funding Awarded to Virginia Organizations to Expand FAMIS/Medicaid Outreach and Enrollment
This summer, the Boat People SOS, the Wellmont Foundation and the Virginia Health Care Foundation were awarded
Connecting Kids to Coverage
Cooperative Agreements from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide one-on-one application and enrollment assistance in key areas of the Commonwealth with high numbers of children eligible for the FAMIS/Medicaid programs. All three organizations will also help eligible children who are currently enrolled stay enrolled.
Click here
for a list of assisters who can help Virginia families apply for the FAMIS/Medicaid programs.
Did You Know?
- Newborns approaching their first birthday should be treated as renewals.
- Renewals are critical to keeping kids healthy. The number one reason a child loses coverage is failure to complete a renewal application.
- While uninsured children across the Commonwealth are eligible for the FAMIS/Medicaid programs, the majority of potentially-eligible children live in Northern Virginia.
- 40% of FAMIS/FAMIS Plus applications submitted in August were completed using CommonHelp.
- 1.6 million children have been covered by FAMIS and FAMIS Plus (Medicaid for Children) since 2001, when FAMIS started. Happy 15th Birthday FAMIS!
FAMIS Program Enrollment as of September 1, 2016:
- 59,961 children were enrolled in FAMIS (including 119 in FAMIS Select)
- 533,618 children were enrolled in FAMIS Plus (including 51,622 in the CHIP Medicaid Expansion)
- 1,080 pregnant women were enrolled in FAMIS MOMS
- 16,332 pregnant women were enrolled in Medicaid for Pregnant Women
- 109,684 men and women were enrolled in Plan First
- 652 former foster care youth are enrolled in Medicaid
