It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has created a significant strain on our current behavioral health system. Addressing systemic behavioral health challenges for the betterment of the health and well-being of Coloradans requires participation and thought leadership from all state agencies and partners.

Fortunately, HCPF and stakeholders have been working to invest over the last several years in partnerships, providers and programs to improve our Health First Colorado behavioral health system and services. Some of those investments are financially based - including increasing our annual behavioral health funding by $400 million since 2018 - an increase of over 60%. In fact, the fiscal year 2022-23 Governor’s budget submitted in November includes an additional $59 million (+6%), increasing our behavioral health funding to over $1 billion for this next fiscal year, if approved.

Recent funding increases were largely used to expand behavioral health care access and reimbursements - both critical to meeting the rising demand for behavioral health services. In fact, the Health First Colorado network of behavioral health providers has grown by 18%, or more than 1,500 providers over the last 18 months. (Thank you, RAEs, for this partnership.) And thanks to our legislative and stakeholder partners, we were also able to add an Inpatient and Residential Substance Use Disorder Treatment benefit effective Jan. 1, 2021, which served about 5,000 Health First Colorado members in its first six months. I invite all of us to celebrate this vital behavioral health benefit added during a significant economic downturn.

Concurrently, HCPF continues to support provider agencies to increase access for children, youth and adults to crisis services, supportive housing, residential recovery, high-intensity services and wrap-around services. We are also working on delivery system reform: integrating physical and behavioral health, as noted in the Governor’s November budget, and building out behavioral health system infrastructure, technology and workforce. We appreciate your partnership on this important work as well.

While these investments are moving the needle in the right direction, there is still far more work to do. Fortunately, from day one of the Polis-Primavera Administration, a foundation to reform Colorado’s behavioral health system was put into place through the creation of the Behavioral Health Task Force. It identified three key actions to be taken by the state: expanding behavioral health access through telehealth, implementing 19 priorities to improve Colorado’s behavioral health system and establishing a Behavioral Health Administration (BHA). Please review the November Behavioral Health Administration plan that outlines the path toward a more coordinated, patient-centered and effective infrastructure, which will help address many of our system’s current challenges.

In complement to this crucial work, the executive branch and the legislature are investing $450 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act stimulus dollars to drive behavioral health transformation for the betterment of Coloradans, our providers and our state. Look for the Behavioral Health Transformational Task Force recommendations this January.

On behalf of our passionate staff and the 1.55 million Coloradans accessing our coverage services, thank you for your partnership and leadership to help us transform Colorado’s behavioral health system.

County fact sheets provide an annual snapshot by fiscal year of Health First Colorado (Colorado's Medicaid Program) activity including average annual caseload and top five claim types for each county.

As a partner, we encourage you to help connect Health First Colorado and CHP+ members and their families to information about the vaccine. A toolkit to assist partners with outreach has been developed. The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (covid19.colorado.gov/kids-vaccines), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov) and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Healthy Children (www.healthychildren.org) have updated information about the vaccine.

Pediatric providers are encouraged to enroll as COVID-19 vaccine providers with CDPHE to help ensure access to the vaccine. Providers can also request a mobile clinic come to their location for their patients.

Updated information about the vaccine is available at covid19.colorado.gov/kids-vaccines.

Thank you for continuing to help keep Colorado safe during this pandemic. 

The Department has started to implement a multitude of projects to expand, enhance, and strengthen the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) system tied to federal ARPA funding. The Department will be issuing quarterly reports on progress to both the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Colorado Joint Budget Committee (JBC), the first of which have been posted to the HCPF ARPA webpage.

Later this fall or early winter, a monthly newsletter dedicated to ARPA projects will launch and serve as a source for key updates on all project planning and implementation, stakeholder engagement opportunities, and other topics of interest related to the funding. Please take a moment to sign up for the ARPA Project Pulse Newsletter now!

The ninth Open Enrollment Period has begun and our online toolkit is complete! Our online toolkit provides you with the tools you need to easily inform your community about health insurance options and financial help through Connect for Health Colorado. It provides social media graphics and copy, newsletter copy, and brochures and flyers in English and Spanish. Open Enrollment ends Jan. 15, 2022.

For more information, call 833-511-0311 or visit fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit.

HCPF submitted a budget request (R-8) for FY 2022-23 that attempts to address county and state concerns regarding funding and oversight. Please see this presentation and the FY 2022-23 Budget Agenda Summary for more information.

All Memos and their attachments are on the Memo Series website.

The purpose of this Operational Memo is to provide guidance to county departments

of human/social services (counties) on how to operationalize the FY 2021-22 County

Incentives Program Accuracy Incentive.

The purpose of this Operational Memo is to provide guidance to county departments

of human/social services (counties) on how to operationalize the FY 2021-22 County

Incentives Program Performance Compliance Incentive.

Per 10 CCR 2505-5 1.020, “Administrative Internal Controls,” counties are required to

establish performance management controls for Medical Assistance programs in their

county. This should include establishing roles and responsibilities and designating

Medical Assistance Performance (MAP) Dashboard Performance Owners, documenting

processes and procedures for performance management and educating county staff

on the importance of performance management and meeting performance targets,

especially where there is a member impact.

The purpose of this Operational Memo is to document the processes used

to monitor the administration and operations of Medical Assistance Programs

administered by county department of human/social services, referenced herein as

“eligibility sites” and subsequent improvement actions or corrective actions required to

correct any determined non-compliance.

The process as documented in this Operational Memo shall be used by the

Department until further notice.

The purpose of this Operational Memo is to issue guidance to county departments of

human/social services regarding the deliverable requirements to earn the fiscal year

(FY) 2021-22 County Incentives Program Cybersecurity Incentive.