Apr, 29, 2022

State Health Updates

  • Arizona – The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System awarded a new contract to two collaborative vendors that will provide housing and healthcare services in a new transitional housing facility for individuals experiencing homelessness and living with a Serious Mental Illness designation. The facility will include transitional housing for up to 70 residents, as well as an on-site healthcare clinic open to the public. Initial capital funding for the project was approved by the Arizona State Legislature and supplemented with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP).
  • Colorado – The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (DHCPF) announced the first meeting of the Community First Choice (CFC) Council. The CFC Council collaborates with and advises the DHCPF on the design and implementation of a CFC option in Colorado. The CFC Council consists primarily of individuals with disabilities, those 65 years or older, and their representatives to help ensure CFC is implemented in a way that best meets the needs of Coloradans with disabilities.
  • Connecticut – Access Health CT, the state’s official health insurance marketplace, announced a new SEP for Connecticut residents with lower incomes beginning April 25. This new SEP will provide access to no- or very low-cost health insurance plans made possible by ARP. To be eligible for the SEP, Connecticut residents must have a household income at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level and cannot currently be enrolled in a health insurance plan through Access Health CT.
  • Florida – The Agency for Health Care Administration and Agency for Persons with Disabilities announced the approval of up to $502.7 million in federal funding under the ARP FMAP increase for HCBS services to be distributed to eligible home and community-based services providers.
  • New Mexico – The state’s Office of Superintendent of Insurance recently notified its carriers that a broker compensation structure that pays differing commissions for open and special enrollments violates state nondiscrimination provisions and constitutes an unfair or deceptive practice under the state’s unfair trade practices statute.
  • Oregon
    • The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Health Care Cost Growth Target Program released a report showing the impacts of rising healthcare costs on Oregon families and individuals in 2019, as average costs total more than 23 percent of family expenditures. Oregon’s personal spending for health care rose by 34 percent from 2013 to 2019, outpacing national averages. The Health Care Cost Growth Target Program was established by the Oregon legislature in 2019 and sets a statewide target for the annual per person growth rate of total healthcare spending in the state, monitoring and publishing reports on healthcare cost increases and factors driving these trends.
    • OHA announced the launch of a new program to fund community-based organizations to support their focus on local priorities while meeting their health equity goals. This grant opportunity supports community-based organizations working toward equity in: communities of color; federally recognized tribes and tribal communities; people with disabilities; immigrant and refugee communities; undocumented communities; migrant and seasonal farmworkers; LGBTQIA+ communities; faith communities; older adults; houseless communities; and others. OHA is awarding 147 community-based organizations a total of about $31 million.
  • Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced that 18 healthcare providers from around the state have received the annual Wisconsin “Big Shot” award for their efforts to vaccinate children against diseases. This recognition is given to healthcare providers who have vaccinated 90 percent or more of their patients who are two years-old and younger, based on 2021 immunization data collected by the Wisconsin Immunization Registry.
  • Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee – These three states announced the expansion of Medicaid coverage for pregnant enrollees, and will extend the period during which enrollees are eligible for postpartum care services from 60 days to 12 months as of April 1. For more information on the ARP state option to extend postpartum coverage, see this SHVS issue brief.