Feb, 09, 2024

State Health Updates

  • Arizona
    • The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) has selected 57 healthcare providers to receive incentive payments over the next five years to integrate healthcare services for Medicaid-eligible incarcerated individuals prior to their release from jail or prison. Selected providers will create co-located, integrated clinics where primary care and behavioral health providers deliver services to justice-involved individuals. 
    • AHCCCS has released a request for proposal to solicit vendors for the administration of the Housing and Health Opportunities (H2O) program. The H2O program is a new effort to enhance and expand housing services and interventions for specific populations of AHCCCS members who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. 
  • California 
    • The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) posted the first iteration of a public-facing California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) dashboard to demonstrate the impact, progress, and key opportunity areas of CalAIM. The data will be updated regularly and will expand to include additional quality measures, demographic data, and initiatives as the data become available.
    • Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law S.B. 339, making medication preventing HIV available to residents without a prescription. The bill authorizes pharmacists to furnish preexposure prophylaxis, PrEP, as well as postexposure prophylaxis, if specified conditions are met. The California State Board of Pharmacy has until October 31, 2024 to implement the bill.
  • Colorado – The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing released four statutorily required hospital transparency reports. These reports provide policymakers, businesses, healthcare purchasers, and communities with critical insights that drive the cost of hospital care.
  • Connecticut – Governor Ned Lamont announced the state will cancel roughly $650 million in medical debt for an estimated 250,000 residents. Residents whose medical debt equals 5% or more of their annual income or whose household income is up to 400% of the federal poverty level are eligible. The state will leverage $6.5 million in COVID-19 funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) to satisfy the debt.
  • Hawaii – Hawaii submitted a five-year extension request for its Medicaid section 1115(a) demonstration, “Hawaii QUEST Integration.” The demonstration extension aims to implement new authorities, including continuous eligibility for children ages zero through five and continuous two-year eligibility for children ages 6 through 18, pre-release services for justice-involved individuals, nutrition supports, and contingency management. The federal public comment period will be open through March 6, 2024.
  • Minnesota – The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) is requesting an amendment from CMS to its Prepaid Medical Assistance Program Plus waiver to expand the 12-month continuous eligibility policy for children under 19 required by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 to include 12 months of continuous eligibility for 19- and 20-year-olds, and continuous eligibility for children up to age six. Additionally, DHS requests to amend the Minnesota Prepaid Medical Assistance Project Plus section 1115 demonstration to provide Medicaid eligibility for former foster care youth who turned 18 prior to January 1, 2023, and are under the age of 26. 
  • New Jersey – The New Jersey Department of Health released the Maternal Health Hospital Report Card, a yearly report of maternal healthcare provided at licensed acute general care hospitals. 
  • New Mexico – CMS approved a proposal from New Mexico for community-based mobile crisis intervention teams to provide Medicaid crisis services. This approval marks 15 states that have expanded access to community-based mental health and substance-use crisis care through the ARP. As a reminder, SHVS published an expert perspective on the enhanced payment available through the ARP for community-based mobile crisis services.
  • New York – Department of Financial Services Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris announced new proposed market conduct regulations to govern pharmacy benefit managers operating in the state to strengthen consumer protections and address anti-competitive conduct. The Department is also inviting submissions of comments, data, or evidence from the public regarding network adequacy requirements, formulary changes, drug manufacturer rebates and aberrant quantity/product list restrictions.
  • North Carolina
    • The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced the launch of its Child Behavioral Health dashboard. The information shared through this publicly available tool will help the department as well as behavioral health providers, policymakers, and stakeholders to identify and address gaps and disparities in behavioral health services for children.
    • NCDHHS released a request for proposal for an organization that will help manage the Children and Families Specialty Plan. The statewide health plan will ensure access to comprehensive physical and behavioral health services for Medicaid-enrolled children, youth and families served by the child welfare system. 
  • Oregon – The Oregon Health Authority released a new report, which details that Oregon needs nearly 3,000 additional adult residential mental health and substance-use treatment beds to close gaps in today’s system of care and meet the state’s future demand for treatment. State officials will release a final version of the report that will provide a complete analysis and a proposed funding strategy in June 2024.
  • Washington – At the direction of the legislature, the Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) will expand healthcare coverage to more Washingtonians, regardless of citizenship status. HCA hosted a webinar about the Apple Health Expansion program which discussed eligibility, covered services, as well as other available programs. 
  • Wisconsin – Governor Tony Evers signed a package of five bipartisan bills aimed at improving access to dental healthcare, particularly in rural communities, and bolstering the dental workforce. Governor Evers also signed Executive Order #220 to create the Governor’s Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce, which will be charged with studying the workforce challenges facing the state’s healthcare systems.