Feb, 25, 2022

State Health Updates

  • Iowa – The Iowa Department of Human Services released a request for proposals for Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) to serve the state’s Medicaid program, the Children’s Health Insurance Program known as Health and Well Kids in Iowa and the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan. Contracts are set to begin July 1, 2023 and are worth approximately $6.5 billion annually.
  • Minnesota – MNsure, the state’s official health insurance marketplace, issued a request for proposals from licensed broker agencies interested in partnering with MNsure as broker enrollment centers.
  • New Jersey – The Murphy administration introduced a new “Expanded Access” initiative, which allows residents at certain income levels to continue to enroll in free or nearly free health coverage through Get Covered New Jersey. The new Expanded Access Special Enrollment Period allows qualifying consumers with an annual household income of up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level to enroll in a health plan throughout the year.
  • North Carolina – The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced that key COVID-19 vaccine information is now available in the state’s most used languages. In addition to a dedicated Spanish webpage for COVID-19 vaccines, vacunate.nc.gov, NCDHHS now has COVID-19 vaccine materials in the state’s five other most used languages of Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Russian and Vietnamese.
  • New York – Governor Kathy Hochul announced 39 new #VaxForKids pop-up sites to increase vaccination rates among children and adolescents. In January, Governor Hochul had announced that 80 sites would take place over a six-week period. At the conclusion of the six weeks, 261 sites have been established. Events were hosted in 32 counties, 72 schools, and 105 zip codes, spanning every region of the state.
  • Oregon – The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced the submission of its 1115(a) demonstration waiver renewal application to CMS. The application focuses on improving coverage in communities of color, providing benefits to individuals transitioning between coverage systems, increasing value-based payments, and improving equity of care. OHA now enters negotiations with CMS over the application’s proposals.
  • Pennsylvania – Pennie, the state’s official health insurance marketplace, announced record-breaking enrollment numbers with nearly 375,000 Pennsylvanians enrolled through Pennie at the end of open enrollment. Of those, more than 111,000 customers are new to the marketplace since January 2021.
  • Wisconsin
    • The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) will submit a request to CMS for an additional 30 days of Medicaid coverage for postpartum healthcare services. Currently, enrollees receive 60 days of coverage after giving birth; approval of the request by CMS would increase coverage to 90 days.
    • DHS announced that $3.4 million in grants has been awarded to 43 organizations to promote health equity in COVID-19 vaccinations in Wisconsin. These organizations will use the funds to serve as trusted messengers within their communities to help reduce barriers to vaccine access within under-resourced communities.