Aug, 03, 2021

State Health Updates

 

  • Alabama
    • The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) is sponsoring a TikTok contest for persons between the ages of 13 and 29 to encourage vaccination against COVID-19 before the beginning of the school year. To participate, contestants are to submit a TikTok video showing themselves getting vaccinated or include a creative message explaining, “This is why I got vaccinated.” A  panel of judges composed of advertising professionals and ADPH personnel will select four winners who will each be awarded a $250 Visa gift card.
    • Alabama families who receive benefits through the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program may start seeing self-checkout options available at their local authorized WIC store. The hope is that the new self-checkout option will provide a smoother, more convenient shopping experience for WIC shoppers and an increased redemption of healthy food benefits for WIC families.
  • Arkansas – The Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) announced that new COVID-19 relief funding will assist youth and young adults who have experienced foster care in Arkansas to help them manage during the ongoing pandemic. The payments, which will be funded by the federal Supporting Foster Youth and Families Through the Pandemic Act, will be one-time, direct payments of at least $750 to Arkansans ages 16 to 26 who have experienced foster care at some point between the ages of 16 and 21. DCFS officials estimate that about 4,000 youth are eligible for payments.
  • California
    • Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation to expand full-scope Medi-Cal eligibility to low-income adults 50 years of age or older, regardless of immigration status. The health care bill, AB 133, makes changes toward a more equitable and prevention-focused approach to health care through expanded behavioral health initiatives supporting California youth and people with severe behavioral health challenges, including those experiencing homelessness; extending Medi-Cal eligibility for postpartum individuals 12 months without requiring a mental health diagnosis, including for eligible undocumented Californians, and supporting continued telehealth flexibilities.
    • Covered California, the state-based marketplace, announced its plans and rates for the 2022 coverage year, which will include a full year of lower premiums under the American Rescue Plan. The preliminary rate increase for California’s individual market is 1.8 percent in 2022, contributing to a three-year average increase of 1.1 percent (2020-2022). Additionally, the new and expanded financial help provided by the law has led to a record 1.6 million people enrolled in Covered California, resulting in a low rate change for a third straight year.
  • Colorado – The Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI) released preliminary rate filings for 2022 health insurance plans, which show premium prices in the individual market (non-employer coverage) increasing an average of 1.4 percent statewide over 2021 premiums. 
  • Louisiana
    • Starting Monday, July 26, the Medicaid agency began calling Medicaid members who need to renew their coverage. Medicaid analysts will be steadily reaching out to Medicaid members who received  a renewal packet in the mail but have not yet responded.
    • A new report from the Louisiana Department of Health, the Special Report on Health Access Disparities, examines disparities based on data from over 8,500 Louisiana households surveyed in the Louisiana Health Insurance Survey. The report focuses on differences in access to health care in Louisiana across demographic groups and insurance plans – including those who are not insured.
  • Minnesota  
    • Governor Tim Walz announced that fourteen Minnesota barber shops and salons are now participating in President Biden’s ‘Shots at the Shop’ initiative, a nationwide program to engage Black-owned barbershops and beauty salons to support local vaccine education and outreach efforts.
    • Governor Tim Walz also announced Minnesota’s ‘Vax to School’ campaign encouraging students and families to get fully vaccinated by the beginning of the school year. To kick off the campaign, the Minnesota Department of Health released a video of educators from across Minnesota calling on students and families to get vaccinated to ensure a safe and worry-free school year.
  • New Jersey – Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation that establishes a statewide universal newborn home visitation program in the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. The state will provide a registered nurse to conduct home visits for all mothers and newborns within two weeks of birth, and serves both adoptive and resource parents, as well as those families who experience stillbirths. The program will be at no cost to the family. Home visits will feature an evidence-based evaluation of the physical, emotional, and social factors affecting parents and their newborn including physical and mental health wellness checks, breastfeeding support and reproductive planning, environmental assessments of the home, and assessments for social determinants of health, such as food security, transportation access, childcare planning, and employment to ensure families have their needs identified and met.
  • New York – NY State of Health, the state-based marketplace, announced that more than 111,000 New Yorkers have newly enrolled in a Qualified Health Plan (QHP) or Essential Plan coverage since January. In addition, since March 31, 2021, when NY State of Health implemented the American Rescue Plan Act insurance provisions, more than 140,000 New Yorkers are benefitting from the increased financial assistance available. Of these 140,000 enrollees, 121,000 are low or moderate income (below 400 percent of the federal poverty level) and 18,000 are higher income (above 400 percent of the federal poverty level), who are eligible for the federal tax credits for the first time.  
  • North Carolina
    • The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced that the state received more than $4.9 million federal funds for small rural hospitals in the state to provide COVID-19 testing and mitigation. The program will provide increased COVID-19 testing to rural populations ensuring an equitable distribution across the state. 
    • NCDHHS also announced the selection of seven organizations to serve as Behavioral Health and Intellectual/Developmental Disability Tailored Plans (Behavioral Health I/DD Tailored Plans). Individuals who need certain services to address a serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, severe substance use disorder, intellectual/developmental disability or traumatic brain injury may be eligible to enroll in a Behavioral Health I/DD Tailored Plan.
  • Texas – Houston-area high school graduates from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s new partnership pilot program, Texas Works Path to Success, are launching their careers with HHSC. The pilot program equips low-income high school seniors with job skills training necessary for work as a Texas Works Advisor I in a Houston-area eligibility office for health and human services programs. These new staff members help connect Texans to services like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Medicaid. High school seniors are guaranteed a job after they successfully complete the program and graduate high school.
  • Virginia – Governor Ralph Northam announced that the Commonwealth will commit $485 million in federal and state funding to address pressing challenges in Virginia’s behavioral health system. The plan includes targeted investments to alleviate pressure on state mental health hospitals, strengthen community-based services, and increase support for substance abuse treatment and prevention programs.