Benchmarks' Upcoming Webinars
Benchmarks' Friday Membership Webinar with Healthy Blue PHP & Karen McLeod
Date: Friday, April 1, 2022
Time: 8:30 am thru 9:30 am
In order to be most efficient with our time, please feel free to send any questions you may have for the Healthy Blue team to Karen and Tara in advance.
New: Benchmarks' Child Welfare Webinar with Lisa Cauley & Karen McLeod
Date: Thursday, April 14, 2022
Time: 8:00 am thru 9:00 am
New: Benchmarks' Friday Membership Webinar with Dave Richard & Karen McLeod
Date: Friday, April 22, 2022
Time: 8:30 am thru 9:30 am
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Benchmarks' Friday Membership Webinar with
Karen McLeod and Dave Richard
March 18, 2022
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Handouts from the NCGA: Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services-March 15, 2022
Handouts from the NCGA: Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Access to Healthcare & Medicaid Expansion
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Healthy Opportunities Food Services Available
Healthy Opportunities Pilots are an innovative way the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) is improving the health and well-being of North Carolinians with an innovative, well-coordinated system of care that addresses both the medical and non-medical drivers of health.
Healthy Opportunities is a groundbreaking pilot program that will work in conjunction with the state’s transition to NC Medicaid Managed Care to test and evaluate the use of Medicaid to pay for a select set of evidence-based interventions designed to address non-medical factors that drive health outcomes and costs.
Effective today, March 15, 2022, qualifying Medicaid Standard Plan members in 33 North Carolina counties may receive food services. Examples of food services include:
To be eligible for and receive Pilot services, NC Medicaid Managed Care members must live in a Pilot region (in one of the counties listed below) and have at least one qualifying physical or behavioral health condition and one qualifying social risk factor, as defined by the Department. For more information, please see frequently asked questions.
Network leads are:
- Access East, Inc.: Beaufort, Bertie, Chowan, Edgecombe, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, Northampton, Pitt
- Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender
- Dogwood Health Trust: Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Yancey
Please join us on March 24th for our next Community Partners Webinar featuring updates from NC Medicaid
The Community Partners webinar series is designed to provide updates on NC Medicaid Managed Care and other key Medicaid initiatives.
Join us Thursday March 24, from 2-3 p.m., for the next session in our ongoing webinar series. In addition to an update on Medicaid Managed Care we will introduce the extension of postpartum coverage beginning April 1, 2022, as well as an update on the launch of Healthy Opportunities and other programs. There will be an opportunity for questions and answers.
To register for the webinar, simply click on the link below. Feel free to share the webinar invitation and registration link with other community partners you think would be interested in attending.
Community Partners Webinar featuring updates from NC Medicaid
2-3 p.m., Thursday, March 24, 2022
Note: Registration will close at 1:30 p.m., March 24, 2022.
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NC Medicaid Managed Care Webinars
Quality and Population Health: COVID-19 Vaccination in the Medicaid Population
Thursday, March 24, 2022, from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. | Register
This series, formerly the Advanced Medical Home (AMH) Webinar Series, is designed to support providers, practice managers, quality improvement professionals, care managers and clinically integrated networks (CINs).
The latest schedule, registration and information on previous webinars, including the recording, slides and transcript are available on the AHEC Medicaid Managed Care website.
NCTracks Call Center Closed Good Friday 2022
The NCTracks Call Center will be closed on Good Friday, April 15, 2022 in keeping with the State holiday. The Pharmacy Prior Approval Unit will be open holiday hours from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
The NCTracks checkwrite schedule is not affected by the Good Friday holiday.
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Integrating Adverse Childhood Experiences Screening into Clinical Practice: Insights from California Providers
In recent years, states have been working to help providers and communities address adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — traumatic events such as abuse, violence, and neglect that occur before age 18. California is among this group of innovators, with the Department of Health Care Services’ Office of the Surgeon General launching ACEs Aware, a statewide initiative that assists providers participating in the state’s Medi-Cal (Medicaid) program through training, clinical protocols, and payment for ACEs screenings.
A new Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) report, Integrating Adverse Childhood Experiences Screening into Clinical Practice: Insights from California Providers, shares perspectives from Medi-Cal providers on how to effectively integrate ACE screening into clinical practice for children and adults in a trauma-informed manner. While insights were gleaned from California-based providers, they can help inform health care organizations and providers working across the country to adopt ACE screening. The report is made possible through the California ACEs Aware initiative.
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Building the Direct Care Workforce Movement: The Essential Jobs, Essential Care Multi-State Initiative
The conference aims to amplify the voices and experiences of Black disabled communities living in North Carolina. Therefore, it will serve two purposes.
First, it will bring three seemingly disparate groups – academics, service providers, and practitioners – together with Black disabled communities. Through a keynote address, various panel discussions, and networking opportunities, attendees will discuss the spectrum of disability issues and experiences and develop new strategies for eliminating barriers Black disabled populations and their caregivers face. Presentations will center race and disability as the lens through which we engage the disciplinary discourse.
The second purpose of the conference is to discuss plans for the newly established NC Black Disabilities Network.
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Waiting Lists For IDD Services Balloon
A new report is painting a grim picture of intellectual and developmental disability services nationally as labor shortages and other factors mean individuals in this population are struggling to access supports in the community.
The number of people with developmental disabilities who are on waiting lists for home and community-based services grew by nearly 117,000 since data was last reported in 2020. And, with pressures from COVID-19 leading many service providers to shut down offerings or turn people away, the level of unmet need is likely much greater, according to an analysis released this month by United Cerebral Palsy and the American Network of Community Options and Resources, or ANCOR.
The annual report known as the “Case for Inclusion” assesses 80 different metrics to evaluate how well states are assisting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the community.
Increasingly, large, state-run institutions are shuttering, the report found. By 2018, 16 states and Washington, D.C. had closed all such facilities, most recently Montana and Tennessee.
Meanwhile, however, data shows that nearly 590,000 people remain on waiting lists for home and community-based services nationally, more than 78% of whom reside in just five states — Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, Florida and Illinois.
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EEOC Issues Reminder That Caregiver Duties Continue Even As COVID Surge Wanes (US)
On March 14, 2022, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a new technical assistance document, “The COVID-19 Pandemic and Caregiver Discrimination Under Federal Employment Discrimination Law,” reminding employers that caregiver obligations continue notwithstanding our gradual return to normal.
The 10-page document warns that, even as pandemic conditions change, many employers, schools, and daycare providers continue to operate on hybrid schedules or may close with little advance notice. These conditions continue to place disproportionate burdens on those with caregiving responsibilities for children, spouses, partners, older relatives, and individuals with disabilities or who are immunocompromised.
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Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Building the Relationships You Need to Win
Time: 12:00 pm thru 1:30 pm
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New: Tuesday, March 22, 2022
NC Medicaid Managed Care: Current Issues & Upcoming Changes Advocates Should Know
Time: 2:00 pm thu 3:30 pm
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New: Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Establishing Peer Services for Overdose Response
Time: 12:00 pm thru 1:30 pm
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New: Thursday, March 24, 2022
Community Partners Webinar featuring updates from NC Medicaid
Time: 2:00 pm thru 3:00 pm
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New: Thursday, March 31, 2022
An Updated Policy Roadmap: Caring for Individuals with Complex Needs
Time: 2:00 pm thru 3:00 pm
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New: Friday, April 1, 2022
Benchmarks' Friday Membership Webinar with Healthy Blue PHP & Karen McLeod
Time: 8:30 am thru 9:30 am
In order to be most efficient with our time, please feel free to send any questions you may have for the Healthy Blue team to Karen and Tara in advance.
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Continued: Friday, April 1, 2022
"Building a National Movement” Workshop Series
Child Trends is co-sponsoring a workshop series—presented by the Campaign for Trauma-informed Policy and Practice, the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives, and PACEs Connection—on preventing trauma and fostering resilience. Half-day workshops will be offered every other Friday from late January to mid-April, from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm ET.
- April 1: “Building the Movement to Address Global Crises”
- April 15: “Building the Movement through Policy and Advocacy”
- April 29: "Building the Movement through Policy and Advocacy"
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New: Thursday, April 14, 2022
Benchmarks' Child Welfare Webinar with Lisa Cauley & Karen McLeod
Time: 8:00 am thru 9:00 am
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New: Friday, April 22, 2022
Benchmarks' Friday Membership Webinar with Dave Richard & Karen McLeod
Time: 8:30 am thru 9:30 am
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