March 14, 2018

NC DHHS Moving Quickly and Adding Detail to Medicaid Transformation Plan  
NC DHHS has been publishing concept papers since last summer to provide information on specific areas of Medicaid Transformation. The Medicaid Transformation website now separates out concept papers, RFPs, the waiver amendment, application, etc. It is important to note that concept papers are point-in-time proposals by NC DHHS and include comment periods. The waiver amendment and RFPs are more formal documents reflecting the Department's plans or intention. Legislative authority for some changes remains in the balance and may be addressed in the General Assembly's Short Session. Other components of the Transformation Plan do not require any additional legislative authority than has already been provided. Keeping up with the information that is coming out is a challenge, but it will provide more and more clarity on how the restructuring of Medicaid is going to play out in North Carolina.
 
RFP for Medicaid Enrollment Broker Includes Major System Changes
NC DHHS has published a RFP for a single Medicaid Enrollment Broker. The Enrollment Broker will serve five distinct populations within Medicaid:
 
 
Spring Policy Forum Keynote is SAMHSA Director of CMHS 

We are excited to announce that Paolo del Vecchio , MSW, Director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) will be the keynote speaker at the Opening Plenary for the Spring Conference on June 11th in Raleigh. In his role, del Vecchio provides executive leadership for federal efforts to improve the nation's mental health service systems. His presentation will focus on the federal vision for integrated care within the Medicaid program and what states, providers and managers must do to achieve this goal.   Read more
  
Medicaid Consumer and Provider Satisfaction Results
For the last several years the state has surveyed Medicaid Providers, adults and those receiving child services to determine satisfaction with care and LME/MCO management. According to the Division of Medical Assistance, the Experience of Care and Health Outcomes (EHOC) is to "...assess consumer perceptions of the care they received through the seven LME-MCOs in North Carolina. The results...will assist DMA in assessing the LME-MCOs ability to monitor the quality of mental health, substance abuse, and intellectual and developmental disability services."
  
Here are some statewide satisfaction averages from the surveys:  Read More
 
Could RIST Services be Coming to NC?
 
Within the NC DHHS Behavioral Health Strategic Plan, there is goal to build community-based services with a particular focus on creating "step-down" services from inpatient care. Mark Benton, NC DHHS Deputy Secretary for Health Services, noted to the Joint Legislative Oversight Behavioral Health Subcommittee on February 27th that NC DHHS is looking at the RIST model in New Jersey to create a step-down from inpatient treatment. The NC DHHS Strategic Plan states, "Although intensive, DHHS anticipates that these step-down services would cost less than the amount currently spent on the patients awaiting discharge in the state's psychiatric hospitals. This would require some upfront investment, but DHHS believes that the combination of step-down services and increasing community-based service capacity would create a positive feedback loop." 

 

Legislation that Advocates Say Violates
ADA has Passed U.S. House
 
Advocates are up in arms about the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 620) which has now passed the U.S. House of Representatives. This bill could set disability rights back decades and violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The purpose of the bill is to require the Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice to develop a program to educate state and local governments and property owners on strategies to promote access for persons with disabilities, but it also includes a new provision concerning public access.
 
 

 

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