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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
We hope everyone has a safe and joyous holiday. Please note HCPF offices are closed on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 23 and 24, 2023, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.
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The Office of Community Living (OCL) within the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) has the following information to share below:
Announcements:
- ⚠️ NOTICE: Resources to Support Eligibility Renewals Related to the Public Health Emergency (PHE) Unwind
- Creating Equitable Access within Colorado’s Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS)
- REMINDER: Direct Care Workers Satisfaction and Engagement Survey!
- REMINDER: HCPF Stakeholder Forum on Nov. 28, 2023 - Discuss the Hospital Community Benefit (HB23-1243)
- REMINDER: 2023 National Core Indicator (NCI) - State of the Workforce Survey - Aging and Disabilities: Data Collection Closes on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023
Memo:
- Organized Health Care Delivery System (OHCDS) Update for Non-Medical Transportation (NMT)
General OCL Meetings:
- NEW: Supported Employment Stakeholder Meeting
American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)-Related Meetings:
- Direct Care Workforce Collaborative (DCWC) Value and Awareness Action Group
OCL Stakeholder Meeting Recordings:
Have you missed a Meeting of Interest to You?
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⚠️ NOTICE: Resources to Support Eligibility Renewals Related to the Public Health Emergency (PHE) Unwind
With the end of the public health emergency (PHE), members are once again required to have their Medicaid eligibility redetermined on an annual basis. This is a new process for many individuals and requires the timely completion of a renewal packet. The following resources are available to support members through the renewal process:
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A guide specifically for helping LTSS members through the renewal process
- Another resource available specifically for members to learn more about renewals, including FAQs can be found on the Health First Colorado website and is available in English and Spanish.
- The KeepCOCovered Toolkit includes information about other health insurance options
Additionally, HCPF is leveraging flexibility from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide a 60-calendar-day extension to complete the renewal process for our vulnerable populations, including long-term care (LTC), members on waivered services, and buy-in recipients who have not returned their renewal packet on time during COVID unwind.
This extension also allows HCPF to do additional outreach to these members when they are up for renewal, while providing extra time for the members to return the information and the counties to process it.
The extension is in effect Sept. 5, 2023, through the remainder of the unwind period, June 2024. It does not affect members who have already submitted their renewal packet to the county or those who have completed the renewal process.
If a member has already turned in their renewal packet and still needs to submit additional information, the county may grant additional time through a Good Faith Extension for a member to turn in this information.
For more information about the extension and frequently asked questions please see the HCPF-posted updates posted.
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Creating Equitable Access within Colorado’s Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS)
HCPF and the Office of Community Living are excited to announce the publications of key project reports and recommendations for the ARPA 3.01 Equity Study. The purpose of this engagement and the recommendations was to create opportunities for HCPF to serve members and eligible Coloradans with disabilities more fully and more equitably.
The engagement was designed to achieve three outcomes:
- Building and strengthening relationships with community partners
- Understanding members’ and advocates’ experiences
- Identifying community-driven solutions
More information about the project, project results, and key documents/reports is on the ARPA HCBS Initiative 3.01 - Equity Study page.
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REMINDER: Direct Care Workers Satisfaction and Engagement Survey!
We want to hear from the direct care workforce to understand their satisfaction with wages, compensation, benefits, career advancement, training, and job fulfillment.
The survey cycle began Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, and will remain open for at least 30 days. This year’s survey questions incorporate feedback from the first survey. All data collected is confidential. The data collected will be used to support workforce initiatives and provide data for future analysis, budget projections, policy planning, stakeholder engagement and improve quality assurances.
The survey will be available by email and survey link. If you are a direct care worker and want to take part, please contact email hcpf_dcworkforce@state.co.us to request a link.
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REMINDER: HCPF Stakeholder Forum on Nov. 28, 2023 - Discuss the
Hospital Community Benefit (HB23-1243)
HCPF, in partnership with the Colorado Health Institute (CHI), seeks feedback on best practices for nonprofit hospitals to ensure diverse input from local community members in determining community priorities and best practices to collaborate and reduce redundant community needs assessments.
HCPF seeks feedback from nonprofit hospitals and health systems, community-based organizations and advocacy groups, local public health agencies, community health care providers, and others interested in hospital community benefit.
The meeting will be convened virtually via Zoom. Please register to receive details prior to the meeting. CHI will facilitate these sessions and is accepting written feedback or questions in advance at focusgroups@coloradohealthinstitute.org.
More information on hospital community benefit accountability is available on HCPF’s Hospital Community Benefit Accountability page.
The session will be held:
Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023
8 to 9:30 a.m. MT
Register Here
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REMINDER: 2023 National Core Indicator (NCI) - State of the Workforce Survey - Aging and Disabilities:
Data Collection Closes on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023
HCPF will be launching the NCI State of the Workforce (SotW) Survey for Direct Care Workforce Agencies serving members enrolled on the Community Mental Health Supports (CMHS), Elderly, Blind, and Disabled (EBD), Brain Injury (BI), and the Complementary and Integrative Health (CIH) waivers. The NCI-SotW is conducted across the country and will help Colorado measure improvement in the quality and stability of the workforce of direct care workers assisting aging and disabled adults. The NCI State of the Workforce is required to be conducted in Colorado by statute through House Bill 18-1407. HCPF requires reliable data on turnover, wages, benefits, and retention strategies to evaluate and develop policies and programs to support the direct care workforce.
In September 2023, agencies that provide services to the targeted population can expect to receive a link via email to complete the survey online. Each agency will fill out one survey about their employed direct care workers. Data collection is set to close on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. The survey’s findings will be shared later in the year. For more information, please visit HCPF’s NCI Survey webpage.
As a thank you, agencies that participate in the survey will receive “Lunch on Us.” HCPF will be sending an electronic gift card for $100 to participating agencies to purchase lunch for administrative staff that assisted in completing the survey. Agencies that are found ineligible to complete the survey will not receive the incentive.
HCPF thanks agencies for assisting us with completing this mission-critical work that will help evaluate the stability of staff and services provided to the members we serve.
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NEW: Supported Employment Stakeholder Meeting
We invite stakeholders to come learn about the potential language changes being considered regarding Supported Employment services. With the upcoming waiver renewal of the Developmental Disabilities (DD) and Supported Living Services (SLS) Waivers, HCPF is looking at expanding and clarifying the service definitions for Supported Employment services. The goal is to address the ambiguity that exists in the current service descriptions.
Proposed changes include:
- Integrating more Employment First and person-centered language
- Expanding the description of activities within the Job Development and Job Coaching services
- Separating group and individual Supported Employment services to support clarity, and clarifying areas where there has historically been confusion.
The meeting will be held:
Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023
1 to 2:30 p.m. MT
Join via Zoom
Join via Phone:
(Toll-free) 1-877-853-5257
Meeting ID: 969 4053 6000
Passcode: 115140
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Please find an ARPA-related meeting announcement listed below. Other ARPA-related meeting information is on the ARPA Stakeholder Engagement and Calendar webpage. | |
Direct Care Workforce Collaborative (DCWC) Value and Awareness Action Group
This Action Group works collaboratively with stakeholders to identify and move forward strategies to support the recruitment and retention of Colorado's direct care workforce.
The meeting will be held:
Friday, Dec. 1, 2023
1 to 2 p.m. MT
Join via Zoom
Join via Phone:
(Toll-free) 1-877-853-5257
Meeting ID: 969 40536000, Passcode: 115140
| OCL Stakeholder Meeting Recordings | |
Have You Missed a Meeting of Interest to You?
Other OCL stakeholder meeting recordings are located on the OCL Stakeholder Engagement YouTube channel.
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Need to Make an Accommodation Request for One of Our General OCL or ARPA-Related Stakeholder Meetings?
Reasonable accommodations for all OCL and ARPA-related stakeholder meetings will be provided upon request for persons with disabilities. Auxiliary aids and services for individuals with disabilities and language services for individuals whose first language is not English may be provided upon request. Please notify John Barry at 303-866-3173 or John.R.Barry@state.co.us or the 504/ADA Coordinator at hcpf504ada@state.co.us at least one week prior to the meeting to make arrangements.
General OCL Meetings are on the OCL Stakeholder Engagement and Calendar webpage.
ARPA-Related Meetings are on the ARPA Stakeholder Engagement and Calendar webpage.
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Want to Sign up for OCL and HCPF Communications?
If you are not currently on the communications list receiving these emails,
you can sign up here.
See a list of all HCPF newsletters you can subscribe to.
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Looking for Prior OCL Communications?
Do you know about the OCL LTSS Newsletter Archive? On this page, you can:
- Search OCL newsletters back to January 2022
- Subscribe to the newsletter
- Keep track of OCL announcements, meeting reminders, and memos
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