Tag: HCA

HCA Presentation on 1115 Waiver

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At this month’s Board meeting, BHT was delighted to welcome Michael Arnis, Deputy Policy Director for the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA). Michael shared the early thinking of the agency as they prepare to submit a renewal to our state’s 1115 Waiver. This presentation shares the high-level concepts of the renewal for the BHT Board to consider during their strategic planning efforts for BHT. We appreciate the HCA’s commitment and forward-thinking as they contemplate how to keep the Medicaid Transformation work moving forward while also acknowledging the needs and priorities of local regions. We are grateful for their partnerships.

Request for Proposals: Telehealth Access

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[Download this web page in PDF form]

Background

In 2019, Better Health Together (BHT) allocated $750,000 from our Integrated Managed Care (IMC) performance incentives to support telehealth strategies. While COVID-19 expedited the region’s adoption of telehealth capacity, it also intensified our communities’ mental and behavioral health needs. We have heard from our behavioral health partners that many positives came with the transition to telehealth. However, some patients lack the resources necessary to access these much-needed services.

Purpose

This RFP is intended to support projects that reduce barriers to patients accessing telehealth behavioral health services in response to COVID.

Funding

BHT has allocated $200,000 from Integrated Managed Care (IMC) telehealth funding and directed $100,000 of the funds from our Cambia grant to these projects, giving us a total of $300,000 to distribute for this RFP.

Individual awards of up to $20,000 per partner within the following categories:

  • $60,000 for rural partners

  • $140,000 for Spokane County partners

  • $100,000 for tribal partners

Goals

Projects should:

  • Increase access to behavioral health telehealth services by providing one-time funding for cell phones or tablets and wireless services.

  • Target impacted populations who lack access to telehealth services and behavioral healthcare.

Eligibility

BHT is inviting applications from contracted partners connected to or providing behavioral health services. Projects should not duplicate supports provided through the Foundational Community Supports (FCS) cell phone and tablet program.

Selection Criteria

An internal panel will review applications and prioritize allocations based on the following criteria:

  • Focus on BIPOC or other impacted populations

  • Number of people served

  • Funds directed to clients in need

Award Information

BHT will release 100% of the funds at contract signing.

Use of Funds

Awards may not be used to directly fund Medicaid-billable services or services covered in contracts between Medicaid managed care organizations and the clinical partner(s) involved in the project.

Expectations of Awardees

  • Awardees will attest that recipients are not duplicating any supports provided through the Foundational Community Supports (FCS) program.

  • Awardees will provide BHT with a report of the project’s use of funds by December 2021.

How to Apply

Organizations should complete this form to submit their applications. Applications completed by April 16 will be eligible for the first round of funding. After April 16, the panel will review applications on a rolling basis until available funds are expended.

Timeline

April 1            RFP released
April 16          Proposals due for priority funding decisions
April 23          Notification of first funding decisions
May 5             Board approval of first contracts
May 10           Expected release of funds

Questions

For questions about this RFP, contact Zack Zappone at zack@betterhealthtogether.org.

HCA Public Forum

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On Sunday March 12th, we welcomed the Health Care Authority to the Philanthropy Center for a Public Forum on Medicaid Demonstration. We want to thank the nearly 50 folks who attended for taking time out on a Sunday to talk Medicaid! 

If you missed it, HCA will be giving one final Public Forum through a webinar on March 28th, which you can register for here: https://engage.vevent.com/index.jsp?eid=7198&seid=26

You can see the slide HCA used in their presentation here.

After, BHT gave a short update on our ACH Pilot Project, using these slides. 

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Medicaid Demonstration Toolkit Overview

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To the best of our abilities in a 45 minute time slot, at our 1/25/17 Leadership Council meeting, Alison gave an overview of the projects outlined in the Medicaid Demonstration Toolkit. This Toolkit is open for public comment until 5PM February 2nd, we strongly encourage you to get together with some peers (it’s 78 pages…), explore the listed projects, and make a public comment to the Health Care Authority. BHT is also requesting feedback on our regions interest and readiness in these projects in a survey below. We will post any feedback we share, or receive from the community on our blog. Here are some useful links from our discussion:

In response to feedback from our January 25th meeting, we are attempting to schedule more opportunities to deep dive into the toolkit. Stay tuned. In the meantime, BHT staff are available for questions.