State Health Updates
COVID-19 Updates
- California – Covered California launched open enrollment with a new ad campaign focused on the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and insurance coverage. The state kicked off its annual open enrollment period with a statewide effort to encourage Californians to protect themselves, their families and their friends from the COVID-19 pandemic by wearing a mask and signing up for health care coverage. The campaign includes sending face masks, emblazoned with the message “Get Covered/Stay Covered,” to every Covered California enrollee who is renewing their coverage as well as all new enrollees.
- Michigan – As part of the state’s continued efforts to slow the increasing spread of COVID-19, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget announced the statewide rollout of the COVID-19 exposure notification app MI COVID Alert. The anonymous, no cost and voluntary app lets users know whether they may have recently been exposed to COVID-19. Users can confidentially submit a positive test result into the app and alert others in recent proximity that they may have also been exposed to the virus.
- North Carolina – The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services expanded the demographic data for COVID-19 cases and added new filtering functions to the NC COVID-19 Dashboard. Demographic data for COVID-19 total cases are available by age group, gender, race and ethnicity and can be filtered by county. The information will be displayed on a new Case Demographics Page on the dashboard.
- Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Department of Health Services added a “critically high” category to the Disease Activity Dashboard to give Wisconsinites a better picture of the impact of COVID-19 in the state amidst a surge in activity. This new category indicates how alarming COVID-19 activity is in counties and regions throughout Wisconsin. The “critically high” category is nearly three times higher than “very high.”
Other State Updates
- Hawaii – The state released a request for proposals for a qualified behavioral health plan to manage the state’s Community Care Services program, which provides behavioral health services to over 4,500 Medicaid-eligible adults with serious mental illness or serious and persistent mental illness. Proposals are due January 8, 2021. Awards are expected on February 8, 2021, with implementation slated to begin July 1, 2021.
- Indiana
- The state submitted an application requesting a new five-year Section 1115 demonstration, entitled “Maternal Opioid Misuse Indiana Initiative (MOMII).” The state is requesting authority to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage for women that meet certain criteria and have an opioid use disorder from the current 60 days to 365 days. The state also wants to provide continuous eligibility for the mother and baby during the entire postpartum period. The federal public comment period will be open from November 9, 2020 through December 9, 2020.
- The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction announced a series of pilot programs designed to increase access to mental health care for inmates in Indiana county jails. The pilot programs will focus on individuals found incompetent to stand trial who are awaiting placement in the state psychiatric hospital network. Currently, these individuals are forced to await the availability of a bed in a state psychiatric hospital before they can receive the competency restoration services required by law. DMHA’s pilot programs will work with a variety of partners to provide these services in three new and different settings: jails, the community, and private inpatient psychiatric settings.
- North Carolina – The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced the launch of NC Medicaid’s managed care enrollment website, www.ncmedicaidplans.gov, in preparation for the launch of Medicaid Managed Care scheduled for July 1, 2021. The purpose of the enrollment website is to help Medicaid enrollees learn more about Medicaid managed care. Medicaid Managed Care open enrollment will begin March 15, 2021, and will continue through May 14, 2021.
- Oregon – The Oregon Health Authority announced the data from the Oregon Health Insurance Survey is now available via interactive dashboards, allowing people to explore 2011 to 2019 survey data, complete with demographic and geographic breakdowns. Every two years, the Oregon Health Insurance Survey asks people in 8,000 Oregon households about insurance coverage, access to care and health care use. The interactive data set allows users to examine trends within and among groups of Oregonians across time.
- Tennessee – The state received approval for a Katie Beckett program, which covers home-based medical services for children with disabilities who are not eligible for Medicaid. The program provides full Medicaid benefits for children with significant disabilities or complex medical needs or up to $10,000 in annual financial support without enrolling in Medicaid. The program is set to begin November 23.
- Washington – CMS approved the state’s amendment to its Section 1115 demonstration “Medicaid Transformation Project” which will enable the state to receive federal financial participation for inpatient, residential and other services provided to otherwise eligible Medicaid beneficiaries while residing in institutions for mental diseases primarily to receive treatment for diagnoses of serious mental illness.