County Partners,

As we move into the fall season, I want to remind you of the important role you all play in helping us address the pandemic for the betterment of all Coloradans. I appreciate all you do to help set the right example in your community. Wearing a mask and practicing social distancing are proven actions we can all take to reduce COVID-19 spread and save lives – protecting both our care givers and the Coloradans we serve.

November and December will bring additional challenges. Thanksgiving and the coming year end holidays traditionally bring friends and families together. This year will be different as we continue to make intention plans that protect one another. I invite you, as leaders in your community, to join in the Step Up campaign by sharing on social media the ways we are stepping up together to battle the pandemic. The website has examples of posts you can share to help. Thank you for your resilience, and thank you for your leadership and partnership during this truly historic and challenging chapter.

Concurrent with our efforts to battle the COVID-19 spread, we are actively monitoring the election results, emerging and related health policies, and the Supreme Court hearing on the Affordable Care Act. Through all this uncertainty, our goal is to stand firm to protect the healthcare gains we have made and continue to address persistent and emerging challenges.

The ACA’s Medicaid expansion provision – and Colorado’s decision to maximize that opportunity – brought needed and affordable coverage to hundreds of thousands of Coloradans. With the economic downturn, even more Coloradans are turning to Medicaid. We are welcoming new members and outreaching to others to help connect them to our coverage programs, which is critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ACA also brought subsidies to improve the affordability of private insurance for those with incomes below 400% of the poverty level. It provided accessible coverage for young adults up to age 26 and created nondiscrimination provisions. As importantly, it created new protections for those with preexisting conditions, enabling many to gain access to coverage that was impossible before the ACA. Overall, the ACA has transformed our health care system and significantly reduced our uninsured rate here in Colorado and across the country.

While we have made gains together, we know work remains to improve affordability through new solutions and policies, especially in the area of rising prescription drug costs. We also have a host of work to do to close health care disparities, which have been further exacerbated by the pandemic. In this spirit, we invite you to join us in our quest to make a Colorado that Works for All of Us – A Colorado for All.

Through these uncertain times, a global pandemic, and an economic downturn, our Department and our passionate staff will continue to work hard to protect and serve our growing members – soon to exceed 1.4 million. Our members are an inspiration, and it is our honor to serve them each day. (Watch Mike’s story.)

Thank you for your leadership and partnership through these uncertain times.

Kim

The Department needs your help to collect data regarding staffing levels for Medical Assistance in your DHS/DSS. This will be critical for us to better understand current county resources and needs.

Please fill out this County Workforce Survey by Monday, November 16. We need one survey per county.

When filling out the survey, please account for each staff person only once. Please include only the information on staffing levels needed to determine eligibility and authorize a case in the Colorado Benefits Management System (CBMS).

If you have any questions, please contact Joshua Montoya.

The Governor's Office released the state's FY 2021-22 budget on November 2, which includes the budget for the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing. All of the Department's budget information can be found on our FY 2021-22 budget website. In addition, you can review the Department's FY 2021-22 Budget Agenda Summary at your convenience.

The Governor's Budget accounts for continued growth rates in claims and capitation payments (medical services premiums) for Medicaid enrollees. However, at this time, there is no change to county administration. The Office of State Planning and Budget (OSPB) will be closely monitoring revenue forecasts, so there is still some degree of uncertainty.

For the Department's budget requests, there are none that are specifically county-facing. However, there are a few that may be of some interest for counties, and I have mentioned those below. More information on these requests can be found in the Department's FY 2021-22 Budget Agenda Summary.

The Department requests to add a remote support benefit to five Home and Community- Based Services (HCBS) waiver programs.

The Department requests a funding adjustment to continue operation of the Nurse Advice Line (NAL) services.

The Department requests funding to implement recommendations from Colorado’s Behavioral Health Task Force.

The Department requests funding to address health disparities in the Medicaid program and Colorado by collecting data to identify health disparities by race and ethnicity and use the data to inform outcome-based value-based payments to Medicaid providers

Director Bimestefer will be happy to take any questions regarding the budget on our next scheduled call with county directors scheduled for December 9, 2020 from 2-3 p.m.

However, if you have questions about any of the specific requests before then, reach out to Joshua Montoya.

At October’s ES Sub-PAC, our teams went through a presentation on actions needed to address the audit for eligibility sites, and what steps we're taking from the system perspective.

Any questions can be sent to Joshua Montoya and Lisa Pera.

The federal government has extended the COVID-19 public health emergency through January 20, ending January 21, 2021.

It is still critical to continue working on the COVID-19 “locked in” report. Each month that members are locked in, the number of individuals on the report will continue to grow.

The COVID locked-in report found in Cognos is to be used by eligibility sites to identify the members within their caseload that will need support for either maintaining or transitioning health coverage at the end of the public health emergency.

The Department holds weekly over-the-shoulder support meetings for county eligibility staff to discuss this report every Thursday at 3 p.m.

New resources will be posted regularly on the County COVID Resource webpage:

Additional questions? Reach out to the COVID Locked-in Joint Inbox

For more information, email hcpf_medicaid.eligibility@state.co.us.

The Department has created a new monthly newsletter to provide updates to eligibility sites regarding creation and implementation of Medicaid Oversight & Accountability programs.

You can read the new Oversight & Accountability newsletter here.

Questions? Reach out to Steve King.

With spikes in COVID-19 cases and the cold and flu seasons at our doorsteps, it's more important than ever to make sure all Coloradans have access to affordable health insurance. To do so, we at Connect for Health Colorado have spent the last couple of months making necessary changes for a successful, mainly virtual, eighth Open Enrollment Period. This year’s Open Enrollment period begins on Nov. 1, 2020, and ends on Jan. 15, 2021.

All Memos and their attachments can be found on the Memo Series website.

PM 20-009

The public health emergency (PHE) end date has once again been extended from

October 23, 2020 to January 20, 2021. To answer questions we have received on this

topic, this operational memo will clarify guidance and rules related to eligibility for

COVID-19 testing for uninsured individuals.

PM 20-094

The purpose of this memo is to ensure eligibility sites provide complete contact

information on all member correspondence issued from the Colorado Benefits

Management System (CBMS).

IM 20-051

The purpose of this Informational Memo is to inform Case Managers, participants, and

providers of a change to the Personal Needs Allowance (PNA) in accordance with cost of living adjustments (COLA) for both Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Old Age

Pension (OAP).