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Blog

Congress approves major healthcare proposals, but work begins for CMS and stakeholders

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On August 7, 2022, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the IRA). The House approved the bill on August 12, and President Biden is expected to sign the IRA into law in the coming weeks.

The IRA addresses a range of policy topics across health care climate, energy, and taxation. Regarding health care, the IRA makes structural changes to the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit and provides new authority for the Medicare program to address the pricing of prescription drugs in the Part B and Part D programs. The measure also extends the temporary enhanced assistance for health coverage purchased from Marketplaces, which was first approved in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). In addition, the IRA updates vaccine coverage policies in Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). 

While the IRA provides a critical framework for the structural changes to the nation’s largest public health insurance programs, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be responsible for building out the policy and operational components necessary to support implementation.  

Notably, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will lead implementation of the IRA’s Medicare and Marketplace provisions. The changes to the Part D benefit and the development of entirely new processes and policies to support the IRA’s drug pricing provisions require significant resources and consideration of direct as well as indirect impacts for the health care market. The agency can use a variety of regulatory tools to support implementation, including issuing standalone Requests for Information (RFIs), convening stakeholder engagement sessions, updating policy manuals, and undertaking notice and comment via the formal rulemaking process, among others.

CMS’ strategic plan emphasizes the value of stakeholder engagement, and this is likely to lead to multiple opportunities for public input, particularly as CMS implements the new Medicare provisions of the IRA. For example, the agency must develop the policy parameters for reforming the Part D benefit design and is likely to seek input from Medicare Advantage (MA) and MA Prescription Drug Plans (MA-PDPs), providers, vendors, and consumer advocacy groups among others to inform its approach. CMS will also need input from the stakeholder community as it establishes the timelines, reporting, and negotiating mechanisms impacting Part B and D prescription drugs pricing and how it will implement the inflation penalty policies outlined in the IRA.

The IRA’s extension of the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARPA) enhanced eligibility for premium assistance through 2025 provides more near certainty around eligibility and enrollment for this market. This may led to renewed momentum for CMS to engage with states and stakeholders on Marketplace policies and structures.

Many of the details around how the IRA’s health care policies will be implemented are unknown at this time. Stakeholders will want to monitor CMS’ progress and provide feedback with data-informed analysis and concrete and practical recommendations as these opportunities are announced. 

An overview of many of the IRA’s health care provisions follows. Our team of experts can provide tailored analysis and support to clients as they begin to unpack the full breadth of the IRA’s policy changes and implications for Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, providers, vendors, consumer advocacy groups and other stakeholders.

  • Part B and Part D Drug Pricing. Requires the Secretary of HHS to select a list of drugs eligible for negotiation, and enter into agreements with select manufacturers, negotiating a “maximum fair price” (MFP) for each selected drug in the Medicare program. The Secretary is required to negotiate on a certain number of drugs per year, 10 drugs in 2026; 15 drugs in 2027 and 2028, and 20 drugs in 2029 and subsequent years.  The number of drugs negotiated will accumulate over the years, such that up to 60 drugs could be negotiated by 2029.  Manufacturers who are not in compliance will face an excise tax that could far exceed the cost of drugs sold over time and civil monetary penalties.
  • Prescription Drug Inflation Rebates. Requires manufacturers to pay rebates for Medicare Part B and D drugs with prices rising faster than inflation. The rebate calculation would be based on units and pricing in Medicare and would determine an inflation-adjusted payment amount based on the percentage by which the price exceeds the inflation benchmark, as determined by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). If a manufacturer fails to pay the rebate, then they would be subject to a civil monetary penalty either equal to or at least 125 percent of the rebate amount for the quarter.
    • The Part D inflation rebate takes effect October 2022 for Part D drugs and biologics.
    • The Part B inflation rebate begins January 2023 for single-source drugs or biologics and certain biosimilar products. The IRA also includes an inflation growth cap on beneficiary coinsurance in Part B, beginning April 2023.
  • Part B Payment for Biosimilar Biological Products. Amends Medicare’s Average Sales Price (ASP) payment methodology in cases where the ASP during the first quarter of sales is unavailable to establish a payment rate for biosimilars. The IRA also updates Medicare Part B reimbursement for certain biosimilar products for a five-year period beginning on October 1, 2022, by increasing the add-on payment from six percent of the reference product’s ASP to eight percent of the reference product ASP.
  • Medicare Part D Assistance for Beneficiaries and Benefit Design. Increases the qualifying income amount (federal poverty level (FPL)) for the full Low-Income Subsidies (LIS) under Part D, from 135 percent of the FPL to 150 percent of the FPL, starting in 2024. The IRA also adjusts the cost-sharing requirements in the Part D benefit by:
    • Eliminating cost sharing in the catastrophic phase of the benefit in 2024;
    • Setting an annual out-of-pocket (OOP) limit for enrollees at $2,000 beginning in 2025;
    • Capping monthly premium increases for a prescription drug plan in 2024 through 2029 at six percent per year.  The Secretary may make a one-time adjustment to the beneficiary Part D premium contribution percentage in 2030 to ensure longer-term beneficiary premium reduction; and  
    • Adjusting the benefit coverage liabilities for the initial coverage phase and catastrophic coverage phase.
  • Coverage for Insulin. Requires Medicare to cover select insulin products and not apply a deductible or impose cost-sharing more than $35 or 25 percent of the negotiated price (including all discounts) for a 30-day supply. Beginning in July 2023, Medicare must exempt from beneficiary deductibles insulin provided through durable medical equipment (DME) and ensure that coinsurance for a month’s supply of insulin administered through DME does not exceed $35. High-deductible health plans (HDHPs) will be able to cover selected insulin products with no deductible without impacting their status as a HDHP, starting in 2023.
  • Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP Coverage for Vaccines. Requires full coverage of Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)-recommended adult vaccines under Medicaid and CHIP without cost-sharing. The IRA also increases the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) by one percentage point, for adult medical assistance for such vaccines and their administration, during the first eight fiscal quarters on or after the date of the IRA’s enactment.
    • Requires Medicare Part D provide full coverage without cost sharing of ACIP-recommended adult vaccines for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2023.
  • Enhanced Temporary Assistance for Marketplace Coverage. Extends the ARPA’s expansion of Advanced Premium Tax Credit (APTC) eligibility and amounts through 2025. ARPA modified the affordability percentages used for the calculation of APTC to increase subsidy amounts for individuals eligible for assistance.

Experts from HMA and HMA companies are supporting clients as they begin to strategize and formulate initial recommendations for federal agencies and plan for implementation.  We will continue to monitor developments in this area and provide additional updates as more information becomes available. 

Blog

HMA identifies key trends in emerging Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration proposals

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As the urgent needs of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) continue to subside, state Medicaid agencies are exploring pathways and concepts to further address the historic inequities and health disparities laid bare by the pandemic. These efforts are closely aligned with the current Administration’s policy objectives for the Medicaid program, specifically:

  1. Addressing health equity
  2. Improving access and coverage
  3. Promoting whole person care

For several decades, Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration programs have provided a powerful lever for federal and state policymakers to design, implement, and evaluate transformative initiatives. All states administer at least one Section 1115 demonstration program. Some demonstrations are narrowly tailored to address services or populations while others capture broader features pertaining to coverage, benefits, and payment and delivery system innovations.

Notably, a new wave of comprehensive and transformative Medicaid Section 1115 demonstration proposals is emerging.

Working closely with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), states are developing proposals that place individuals at the center of health care in an entirely new way – by recognizing their medical needs as well as the complexity of circumstances and environmental factors that shape the individual’s medical, physical, and behavioral care needs and outcomes.

Teams of experts from across the HMA family of companies are supporting state agencies, counties, health plans, providers, community and consumer organizations, and other stakeholders with translating federal goals and parameters into concrete proposals as these move through the stages of concept paper, application and negotiation, and implementation. Demonstrations will reflect each state’s unique political and policy landscapes, but the programs will be grounded in certain federal goals and expectations to enhance accountability and improve outcomes.

Our experts identified three trends in state 1115 demonstration programs. In this and subsequent In Focus posts we will share our team’s initial insights and considerations for stakeholders based on our collective “on the ground” expertise. We include illustrative examples from some states with approved and pending Section 1115 proposals.

Section 1115 Trend #1: States are advancing a new vision for Medicaid’s role in addressing health equity, influenced by social drivers and grounded in a community’s needs.

CMS is strongly encouraging states to consider initiatives that address health inequities and community specific social drivers of health. As evidenced by the current state initiatives, Section 1115 demonstration programs will be a primary — but not the only — pathway states utilize to design strategies to address health inequities driven by non-health systems and circumstances. Based on our work with states and stakeholders, it is critical that states ensure the services are directly linked to factors that impact health outcomes for Medicaid enrollees and that they have mechanisms to evaluate the impact of community and social care services.

Several state proposals already signal CMS’ current vision for using Section 1115 authority to test new types of assistance within service categories to include non-medical services, services tailored to populations, and assistance that is linked to desired outcomes. For example:

North Carolina’s Section 1115 pilot program will provide support to certain groups of consumers for an array of community supports ranging from housing related services and transportation access to interpersonal violence and access to food and nutrition services. The program includes help for consumers related to utility set up and moving costs, and support to connect with community services to address legal issues impacting housing and thereby impacting health.

In December 2021, CMS approved California’s Section 1115 demonstration program and linked this to a separate waiver approval allowing the state to further enhance services and accountability within its managed care program. As part of California’s implementation of its statewide whole person care initiative, the state will be able to pay for housing navigation and tenancy services and assistance with first month deposits for certain populations enrolled in its statewide managed care program. This proposal is grounded in the state’s commitment to ensure that the non-medical services were clearly defined and clinically oriented for the intended population.

CMS’ approval of the North Carolina and California programs is paving the way for conversations in other states, including New York, New Jersey, and Oregon among others. Negotiations on similar initiatives to address health equity in other states, include:

New York, like North Carolina, plans to seek CMS’ approval to offer a range of community services that would be provided through newly established networks of community-based organizations in all regions of the state. The state envisions that the CBO networks will include small neighborhood organizations familiar with their communities’ needs and the capacity to address multiple social risk factors as well as larger county or regionally focused entities. In addition, New York is asking CMS to support a health equity focused proposal which would provide certain “in-reach” services for incarcerated individuals before they are released.

Oregon submitted a request to use federal Medicaid spending authority to address community-based health inequities and to establish statewide health equity investments (HEIs). The state is especially focused on supporting consumers during disruptions in coverage, life transitions, or disruptions caused by climate events. Community-based investments will reflect empirical evidence and community assessments and may include efforts to improve building environments and expand culturally and linguistically. Addressing climate events may be of particular interest as it addresses multiple priorities for Administration.

Conclusion

North Carolina and California offer important insights into what may be possible and as importantly, what may be beyond the bounds of CMS’ Medicaid authority. Chief among the outstanding issues for states and stakeholders is whether additional innovative programs for addressing health disparities among justice-involved populations is possible under Medicaid’s demonstration authority.

CMS may use the experience with initial states to provide more concrete information on these general parameters and expectations. Formal guidance would prove helpful to states and stakeholders seeking to apply new knowledge and experiences with health inequities into practice within the Medicaid programs.

HMA’s interdisciplinary teams of Medicaid, human services, and actuarial experts are assisting states as well as stakeholders as they conceptualize, develop, and implement Section 1115 programs. To learn more about our work and the breadth of our service, contact our expert below.

Brief & Report

Edrington Health Consulting, an HMA company authors “Investing in Primary Care: Why it Matters for Californians with Medi-Cal Coverage”

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California Health Care Foundation released a new study authored by the Edrington Health Consulting, an HMA company, Investing in Primary Care: Why it Matters for Californians with Medi-Cal Coverage, that highlights the critical role primary care plays for patients in Medi-Cal. The study encompasses 5.4 million Californians enrolled in Medi-Cal managed care, or nearly half of all Medi-Cal enrollees in 2019, and finds greater investment in primary care is generally associated with better quality of care, patient experience, and plan rating. Furthermore, the study provides an  important baseline for understanding how greater investment in primary care can improve quality and equity; this is particularly important as California expands Medi-Cal to include all income-eligible Californians, regardless of immigration status. This analysis comes as California is taking significant steps toward ensuring primary care teams, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, community health workers, behavioral health staff and others play a greater role in the health care delivery system.

Blog

Indiana releases MLTSS RFP

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This week, our In Focus section reviews the Indiana Medicaid managed long-term services and supports (MLTSS) request for proposals, released by the Indiana Department of Administration on behalf of the Family and Social Services Administration on June 30, 2022. Indiana is seeking three managed care organizations (MCOs) that will serve an estimated 106,000 enrollees, beginning January 1, 2024, for a period of four years, with two one-year renewal options.

MLTSS Program

Indiana began forming a plan to reform the state’s Medicaid LTSS services in 2019 by holding stakeholder meetings. The state estimated that from 2010 to 2030 the proportion of Hoosiers over age 65 will grow from 13 percent to 20 percent, and that the state’s system would need to be reformed to meet the growing demand. The state set an objective to shift the LTSS program to a managed care model and to move a higher percentage of new LTSS members into home and community-based settings.

The new statewide, risk-based MLTSS program will serve Medicaid beneficiaries who are aged 60 years and older and are classified as aged, blind, or disabled. These beneficiaries will include individuals who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, those in a nursing facility, and those who are receiving LTSS in a home or community-based setting.

Beneficiaries in this program will receive all traditional Medicaid services, delivered through a capitated managed care arrangement. Those who meet a specified level of care will be eligible to receive home and community-based services (HCBS) waiver services. The Medicaid Rehabilitation Option (MRO), Adult Mental Health Habilitation Services Program (AMHH), and Behavioral and Primary Care Coordination (BPHC) will be carved out of the capitated arrangement. For dually eligible beneficiaries, Medicare will be the first payer for all Medicare covered services, including services that are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid.

Indiana seeks to contract with MCOs that can address complex and chronic health conditions of the program population and integrate care along the continuum and settings of LTSS in the state. Program goals include simplifying access to HCBS and expanding the HCBS provider network, especially in rural areas; using a person-centered approach; improving quality outcomes and consistency of care across the delivery system; promoting caregiver support and skill development; in addition to others.

Timeline

The first part of the proposals is due September 19, with the second part due September 23. Awards are expected in February 2023.

Evaluation

After ensuring proposals meet the mandatory requirement, proposals will be scored out of a total possible 103 points, as shown in the table below.

Preliminary Capitation Rate Summary

Based on the preliminary calendar year 2024 capitation rate development, contracts are estimated to be worth $3.8 billion annually.

Link to RFP

Blog

Early bird registration discount expires July 11 for HMA conference on the future of publicly sponsored healthcare, October 10-11 in Chicago

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Be sure to register for HMA’s 2022 Conference by Monday, July 11, to get the special early bird rate of $1,695 per person. After July 11, the rate is $1,895.

Nearly 40 industry speakers, including health plan executives, state Medicaid directors, and providers, are confirmed for HMA’s The New Normal: How Medicaid, Medicare, and Other Publicly Sponsored Programs Are Shaping the Future of Healthcare in a Time of Crisis conference, October 10-11, at the Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park.

In addition to keynote sessions featuring some of the nation’s top Medicaid and Medicaid executives, attendees can choose from multiple breakout and plenary sessions on behavioral health, dual eligibles, healthcare investing, technology-enabled integrated care, social determinants of health, eligibility redeterminations, staffing, senior care, and more.

There will also be a Pre-Conference Workshop on The Future of Payment Reform: Delivering Value, Managing Risk in Medicare and Medicaid, on Sunday, October 9.

Visit our website for complete details: https://conference.healthmanagement.com/. Group rates and sponsorships are available. The last HMA conference attracted 500 attendees.

State Medicaid Speakers to Date (In alphabetical order)

  • Cristen Bates, Interim Medicaid Director, CO Department of Healthcare Policy & Financing
  • Jacey Cooper, Medicaid Director, Chief Deputy Director, California Department of Health Care Services
  • Kody Kinsley, Secretary, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
  • Allison Matters Taylor, Medicaid Director, Indiana
  • Dave Richard, Deputy Secretary, North Carolina Medicaid
  • Debra Sanchez-Torres, Senior Advisor, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Jami Snyder, Director, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System
  • Amanda Van Vleet, Associate Director, Innovation, NC Medicaid Strategy Office, North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services

Medicaid Managed Care Speakers to Date (In alphabetical order)

  • John Barger, National VP, Dual Eligible and Medicaid Programs, Humana, Inc.
  • Michael Brodsky, MD, Medical Director, Behavioral Health and Social Services, L.A. Care Health Plan
  • Aimee Dailey, President, Medicaid, Anthem, Inc.
  • Rebecca Engelman, EVP, Medicaid Markets, AmeriHealth Caritas
  • Brent Layton, President, COO, Centene Corporation
  • Andrew Martin, National Director of Business Development (Housing+Health), UnitedHealth Group
  • Kelly Munson, President, Aetna Medicaid
  • Thomas Rim, VP, Product Development, AmeriHealth Caritas
  • Timothy Spilker, CEO, UnitedHealthcare Community & State
  • Courtnay Thompson, Market President, Select Health of SC, an AmeriHealth Caritas Company
  • Ghita Worcester, SVP, Public Affairs & Chief Marketing Officer, UCare
  • Mary Zavala, Director, Enhanced Care Management, L.A. Care Health Plan

Provider Speakers to Date (In alphabetical order)

  • Daniel Elliott, MD, Medical Director, Christiana Care Quality Partners, eBrightHealth ACO, ChristianaCare Health System
  • Taylor Nichols, Director of Social Services, Los Angeles Christian Health Centers
  • Abby Riddle, President, Florida Complete Care; SVP, Medicare Operations, Independent Living Systems
  • David Rogers, President, Independent Living Systems
  • Mark Sasvary, Chief Clinical Officer, CBHS, IPA, LLC
  • Jim Sinkoff, Deputy Executive Officer, CFO, SunRiver Health
  • Tim Skeen, Senior Corporate VP, CIO, Sentara Healthcare
  • Efrain Talamantes, SVP & COO, Health Services, AltaMed Health Services Corporation

Featured Speakers to Date (In alphabetical order)

  • Drew Altman, President and CEO, Kaiser Family Foundation
  • Cindy Cota, Director of Managed Medicaid Growth and Innovation, Volunteers of America
  • Jesse Hunter, Operating Partner, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe
  • Bryant Hutson, VP, Business Development, MedArrive
  • Martin Lupinetti, President, CEO, HealthShare Exchange (HSX)
  • Todd Rogow, President, CEO, Healthix
  • Joshua Traylor, Senior Director, Health Care Transformation Task Force
  • James Whittenburg, CEO, TenderHeart Health Outcomes
  • Shannon Wilson, VP, Population Health & Health Equity, Priority Health; Executive Director, Total Health Care Foundation
Blog

Oklahoma to transition to Medicaid managed care

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This week, our In Focus section reviews a new Oklahoma law to implement Medicaid managed care by October 1, 2023. The law, signed by Governor Kevin Stitt on May 26, 2022, requires the state to issue a request for proposals and to award at least three Medicaid managed care contracts to health plans or provider-led entities like accountable care organizations.

Provider-led entities would receive preferential treatment, with at least one targeted to receive a contract. However, if no provider-led entity submits a response, the state will not be required to contract with one.

Goals of the legislation include:

  • Improve health outcomes for Medicaid members and the state as a whole;
  • Ensure budget predictability through shared risk and accountability;
  • Ensure access to care, quality measures, and member satisfaction;
  • Ensure efficient and cost-effective administrative systems and structures; and
  • Ensure a sustainable delivery system that is a provider-led effort and that is operated and managed by providers to the maximum extent possible.

Plans would provide physical health, behavioral health, and prescription drug services. Covered beneficiaries would include traditional Medicaid members and the state’s voter-approved expansion population, but not the aged, blind, and disabled population eligible for SoonerCare.

Plans will need to contract with at least one local Oklahoma provider organization for a model of care containing care coordination, care management, utilization management, disease management, network management, or another model of care as approved by OHCA.

Oklahoma will also issue separate RFPs for a Medicaid dental benefit manager plan and a Children’s Specialty plan.

Background

Oklahoma currently does not have a fully capitated, risk-based Medicaid managed care program. The majority of the state’s more than 1.2 million Medicaid members are in SoonerCare Choice, a Primary Care Case Management (PCCM) program in which each member has a medical home. Other programs include SoonerCare Traditional (Medicaid fee-for-service), SoonerPlan (a limited benefit family planning program), and Insure Oklahoma (a premium assistance program for low-income people whose employers offer health insurance). Prior efforts to transition to Medicaid managed care have encountered roadblocks, starting in 2017 with a failed attempt to move aged, blind, and disabled members to managed care.

More recently, in June 2021, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down a planned transition of the state’s traditional Medicaid program to managed care, ruling that the Oklahoma Health Care Authority does not have the authority to implement the program without legislative approval.

Contracts had been awarded to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma, Humana, Centene/Oklahoma Complete Health, and UnitedHealthcare. Centene/Oklahoma Complete Health also won an award for the SoonerSelect Specialty Children’s Health Plan program, covering foster children, juvenile justice-involved individuals, and children either in foster care or receiving adoption assistance.

Link to Senate Bill 1337

Blog

Behavioral health crises drive bipartisan action in Congress

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Agreement about the severity of the nation’s mental health and substance use disorder crises is rising above the partisan politics in Congress. In fact, these are among a handful of issues driving work on bipartisan legislation across all the key House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over behavioral health programs and policies this year.

On May 18, the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved the “Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022” (H.R. 7666). This legislation incorporates a collection of bipartisan bills to update and reauthorize over 30 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) programs addressing the mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) crisis. The bill also advances initiatives to strengthen the 9-8-8 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline implementation efforts, invest in the crisis response continuum of care, and support strategic opioid crisis response plans among numerous other policies. Energy and Commerce is one of several House committees planning to advance behavioral health bills this year.

U.S. Senate committee leaders have been similarly engaged in developing bipartisan proposals to address mental health and substance use disorders. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and Finance committee leaders are expected to reveal their proposals as soon as this summer. The Finance Committee’s proposal will focus on Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) policies and could reflect findings from the committee’s report, “Mental Health Care in the United States: The Case for Federal Action.” Similarly, HELP members Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) introduced the Mental Health Reform Reauthorization Act to extend several expiring mental health programs, which could be incorporated in that Committee’s comprehensive proposal. Across committees, there has been an interest in strengthening parity, supporting integration of primary and behavioral health care, increasing access to youth mental health screenings, scheduling fentanyl analogues, and easing requirements for prescribing Medication Assisted Treatment.

What To Expect

Congressional leaders have consistently expressed their desire to advance bipartisan legislation to address the urgent needs and gaps in the mental health and SUD care delivery systems, as well as support education and research.  While these are key areas to watch, the diminishing number of legislative days on the congressional calendar and climate surrounding November’s mid-term elections create uncertainty for the timing and scope of Congress’ work. It remains to be seen whether a package of health care proposals, such as reauthorization of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s user fee programs, the Cures 2.0 legislation to advance biomedical research, mental health and substance use disorder legislation, and the PREVENT Act could be sent to President Biden’s desk before the end of September.

HMA companies are supporting clients impacted by the policy changes being discussed and the program funding addressed in these legislative proposals. Understanding the landscape for federal change allows state and local governments and stakeholders to plan for and shape these opportunities. For more information, please contact our experts below.

Blog

HMA conference on “The New Normal for Medicaid, Medicare, and Other Publicly Sponsored Programs” to feature insights from health plan leaders, state Medicaid directors, and providers

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Pre-Conference Workshop: October 9, 2022
Conference: October 10-11, 2022
Location: Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park

HMA Conference on the New Normal for Medicaid, Medicare, and Other Publicly Sponsored Programs to Feature Insights from Health Plan Leaders, State Medicaid Directors, Providers

Early Bird registration is now open for HMA’s fifth national conference on trends in publicly sponsored healthcare. Early Bird Registration Ends July 11th.

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Blog

Nebraska releases Medicaid managed care RFP

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This week, our In Focus section reviews the Nebraska Heritage Health request for proposals (RFP), released by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on April 15, 2022. DHHS will award statewide contracts to two or three Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) to serve approximately 342,000 individuals. Implementation is set to begin July 1, 2023. Contracts are currently worth $1.8 billion annually.

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