General Assembly Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on what's new at the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing with this newsletter created specifically  for the  Colorado General Assembly. 
Editor's Note

This newsletter is published monthly while the legislature is in session, and quarterly outside of the legislative session. The next edition will be published in February 2020.

Please continue to direct any questions or constituent issues to the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (the Department) legislative team:
Message from Executive Director Kim Bimestefer

Legislators:
 
We look forward to working with you this session. The Department had the opportunity to present our  performance plan   and provide updates on our goals last week to the Health Committees in the House and Senate.  As I mentioned at the hearing, we have made significant progress together in improving the lives of the Coloradans we serve.  A few examples include, reducing opioid use, reducing call wait times in our provider and member call centers, improving access to care by increasing the number of enrolled providers serving our members, increasing usage the PEAK mobile app, improving our analytic systems so that we can identify the members who need the most support, and creating pathways for our RAE partners to better respond to those needs.
 
I and our passionate staff are excited to work with you this session to continue to make progress on the strategic focus areas outlined below.
  • Member Health - Improve health outcomes and program delivery
  • Customer Service - Improve service to members, care providers, and partners
  • Operational Excellence - Create compliant, efficient, and effective business practices that are person- and family-centered
  • Medicaid Cost Control - Ensure the right services for the right people at the right place and price 
  • Health Care Affordability for Coloradans - Reduce the cost of care in Colorado
With your support the Department's budget and  legislative   agendas will continue to move this important work forward.  
 
We can also be a resource for you as you work on addressing broader health care challenges that Coloradans are facing. The Department recently 
released a report  to help inform discussion on policy solutions to address the high cost of prescription drugs. As new reports are developed, we will post them on our legislator resource center and include in this publication. 
 
Thank you for the important work you are doing.
HCPF 2020 Legislative Agenda

The 2020 legislative session convened on January 8, 2020. A brief overview of the Department's legislative agenda can be found on the Department's website. This year, our agenda bills focus on:
  • Children's Habilitation Residential Program (CHRP) Waiver Rulemaking.
  • Renew Overexpenditure and Transfer Authority.
  • Skilled Nursing Facilities: Establishing a Demonstration of Need and Technical Changes.
  • Remove Annual 3% Increase for Skilled Nursing Facilities.
HCPF FY 2020-21 Budget Agenda

A summary of the Department's discretionary budget requests submitted for consideration to the Colorado General Assembly, as part of the Governor's Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-21 budget, is now posted on our website. These requests focus on improving customer service, benefits management, compliance and controlling costs. The requests include strategic investments in technology to support pharmacy benefits and payment reforms. 

Reducing Prescription Drug Costs in Colorado

The Department released  a comprehensive report  outlining the primary drivers of prescription drug costs in Colorado. Prescription drug costs are the fastest-growing consumer health care expense.
 
The report is intended to inform dialog about how to control the cost of prescription drugs. For more information,  read our report  and the  press release.
SB19-238 Training Advisory Committee

The Department commits to continuing to closely engage stakeholders to inform the development of a training requirements for Personal Care and Homemaking Services. Over the past three months, the Department, additional executive agencies, and stakeholders have met five times to discuss and inform this critical work. 

The Department issued a  final report  with our review of initial and ongoing training requirements and advisement on future recommendations for training. 

Background information and meeting materials are available on the Senate Bill 19-238 Training Advisory Committee (TAC)  website . Please be on the lookout for future engagement opportunities around training and long-term care workforce development.
Hospital Transformation Program

Update on federal authorities

On December 31, 2019, the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (the Department) submitted both the Hospital Transformation Program (HTP) 1115 demonstration waiver application and the State Plan Amendment (SPA) to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This is a big milestone for HTP and we'd like to thank stakeholders, hospitals and community partners for their participation in the process. The next steps in the process involves a 30-day federal comment period and well as the Department working with CMS to address any questions that arise during this period. The waiver is currently posted for federal public comment on the CMS website.

HTP Road Show training for hospitals

The HTP team will be traveling around the state for in-person trainings to review the requirements and answer questions for hospitals participating in the HTP. Please see the attached flyer and with the dates and locations of these trainings. Additional details will be forthcoming in future HTP Newsletters.

Community Advisory Council

The Community Advisory Council continues to meet on a monthly basis. Notes and agendas from December meeting can be found on the  Community Advisory Council website. We'd like to thank council members for their thoughtful feedback and recommendations since the group was formed in September 2019. Questions about the council should be directed to the Community Advisory Council email box.

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.
PROMETHEUS

Working with several vendors, the Department has developed Tableau dashboards that measure potentially avoidable complications (PACs) in care that occurred in hospitals, primary care settings, and throughout the healthcare delivery system using the PROMETHEUS model. The dashboards highlight areas of opportunity to improve care by looking at episodes of care for various conditions and procedures. The Department anticipates releasing dashboards with refreshed data to hospitals by the beginning of April for the Hospital Transformation Program (HTP). The RAEs are continuing to execute their PAC reduction plans for FY2020, which are based upon their latest PROMETHEUS dashboard results.
No Wrong Door

No Wrong Door (NWD) is a federal grant opportunity offered by our Federal Partners at the Administration for Community Living (ACL). The initiative aims to streamline access to long term services and supports for all individuals through person-centered systems and practices. Colorado implemented four pilot sites across the state to test the efficacy and potential to leverage best practices established through the pilot sites at a statewide level. Following the conclusion of the NWD grant September 30, 2019, the Department has been working with Federal partners at the ACL to complete the necessary closeout work.  Internally the team is determining how best practices established under NWD can be leveraged to support the primary elements of case management redesign to include communications, eligibility and service planning processes.
 
More information on No Wrong Door is available on our website.
HCPF Submits New Reports & LRFIs to the General Assembly

HCPF submitted new reports and Legislative Requests for Information (LRFIs) to the General Assembly since the last newsletter, all are on the Legislator Resource Center page:
Medicaid Snapshot and County-by-County Resources

These County Fact Sheets provide an annual snapshot by fiscal year for Colorado's Medicaid program activity including average annual caseload and top five claim types for each county.
Legislator Resource Center

The  Legislator Resource Center  on our website is available to help legislators and legislative staff easily find information. It includes links to reports, fact sheets and overviews of the budget process to help inform legislators.
Follow HCPF on Social Media

We invite legislators to follow us on social media to stay informed of news and happenings at the Department. You can follow us on Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn . 
Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing  
(303) 866-2993 | 1570 Grant Street, Denver, CO 80203
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