Filter by topic:

Receive timely expert insights on topics you care about.

Select Topics

1384 Results found.

November 8, 2023

CMS Issues Final 2024 Provider Payment Rules

Read Roundup

New experts join HMA in September 2023

Read News

HMA is pleased to welcome new experts to our family of companies in September 2023.

Dan Castillo – Managing Principal
HMA

Dan Castillo is a seasoned healthcare executive with over 20 years of experience in health administration. He specializes in health systems strategy, hospital leadership, medical group management, population health and academic medicine.

Laura Brown – Director
Leavitt Partners

Laura Brown is a food and drug attorney who leverages her 10-plus years of legal analytic experience to provide federal policy counsel and analysis to clients and support multi-sector alliances. Read more about Laura.

Teresa Garate – Principal
HMA

Teresa Garate is an experienced and innovative leader with over 30 years of experience leading systems change, innovation and growth in the complex environments of public health, healthcare, public education, higher education and government.

Falon Owen – Principal
HMA

Falon Owen is a healthcare strategist with over 15 years of experience in product development and operations.

Kathleen Cahill – Associate Principal
HMA

Kathleen Cahill is a solutions-driven C-Suite executive with more than 40 years of experience in healthcare operations, working for entities and organizations across the healthcare industry.

Susan Arcidiacono – Principal
HMA

Susan Arcidiacono is an accomplished health plan executive with more than 25 years of experience in Medi-Cal managed care and Medicare D-SNP.

Dena Hasan – Associate Principal
HMA

Dena Hasan is a forward-thinking executive with over 20 years of experience in public and private sector healthcare and social services.

Jeff Wittcoff – Consulting Actuary II
Wakely

Jeff Wittcoff has expertise is in provider contracting and assessment, healthcare program evaluation, digital care initiatives, trend forecasting, and actuarial applications of healthcare modeling. Read more about Jeff.

Patricia Miles – Senior Consultant
HMA

Patricia Miles is a performance-driven managed care leader with over 25 years of experience in the Medicaid and Medicare markets.

Patrick Meadors – Senior Consultant
HMA

Patrick Meadors is a licensed marriage and family therapist with over 15 years of clinical behavioral health and integrated care experience.

Dan Rhodes – Principal
HMA

Dan Rhodes is a results-driven healthcare operations and compliance executive with over 25 years of successful leadership experience with blue-chip companies.

CalAIM Justice-Involved Reentry Initiative Planning and Implementation Services

Read Solution

Organizations are facing extensive challenges to improve health outcomes and healthcare quality through broad delivery, payment, and program reforms in CalAIM. With proven expertise in CalAIM policy, operations, and implementation, Health Management Associates (HMA) can help you with identifying needs, developing a strategy, and implementing those plans. We actively support clients across California implementing the CalAIM Section 1115 Waiver Demonstration Justice-Involved Initiative. Our team of Medi-Cal, managed care, and correctional healthcare experts – including physical and behavioral health clinicians, healthcare administrators, and former correctional leaders – are uniquely positioned to help clients navigate this delivery system transformation.

California is the first state in the nation to receive approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide detained and sentenced individuals with 90-day pre-release healthcare services and behavioral health linkages. Through PATH JI grant funding, HMA is helping clients build administrative capacity, information technology, pre-release services, care management models, and Medi-Cal claiming infrastructure to meet their unique needs and leverage this significant opportunity. Our planning and implementation support spans the breadth of the CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative including: the pre-release Medi-Cal application process, 90-day pre-release services, behavioral health links, Enhanced Care Management (ECM), and Community Supports services.

That’s why sheriffs’ departments, probation authorities, correctional health services agencies, behavioral health agencies, managed care plans, healthcare providers and community-based organizations see HMA as a trusted partner in helping to develop and implement 1115 waiver healthcare programs.

We provide:

Project management

State policy monitoring and compliance tracking

Current and future state process mapping

Partner and stakeholder collaboration and meeting facilitation

Process and quality improvement recommendations

Protocol development

Implementation plan and readiness assessment drafting

Training

Electronic health record recommendations

Contact our experts:

Rebekah Kharrazi

Associate Principal

Rebekah Kharrazi is an accomplished public health professional with a broad range of expertise and skills to help clients navigate … Read more

Julie White

Principal

With more than 25 years of experience in comprehensive healthcare and justice-related service delivery, Julie White has developed policy, strategic … Read more

Health Management Associates Expands Footprint in North Carolina, New Orleans

Read News

Health Management Associates (HMA), a leading independent, national healthcare consulting firm today announced that it is establishing offices in North Carolina and New Orleans.

In North Carolina, HMA will have a presence in Raleigh and Charlotte with plans to continue building out the North Carolina team in the coming months.

The Focus Group, based in New Orleans, joined HMA in 2022, and HMA continues to expand its footprint there adding new colleagues from the area to its roster of experts. They will share office space at The Focus Group’s current Poydras Street location.

“Our firm’s continued growth is designed to support the current and future needs of our clients across the country,” said Doug Elwell, HMA’s chief executive officer. “We are excited to plant roots in North Carolina and expand our talented team in New Orleans as we help clients successfully navigate the toughest challenges facing healthcare and human services.”

About HMA

Founded in 1985, HMA is an independent, national research and consulting firm specializing in publicly funded healthcare and human services policy, programs, financing, and evaluation. Clients include government, public and private providers, health systems, health plans, community-based organizations, institutional investors, foundations, and associations. With offices in more than 30 locations across the country and over 700 multidisciplinary consultants coast to coast, HMA’s expertise, services, and team are always within client reach. Learn more about HMA at healthmanagement.com, or on LinkedIn and X.

State Policy and Practice Recommendations to Advance Improvements in Children’s Behavioral Health

Download

Health Management Associates (HMA) has partnered with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) Technical Assistance Coalition to produce a series of briefs that characterize the opportunities to improve coordination of services for children.

In this brief, “State Policy and Practice Recommendations to Advance Improvements in Children’s Behavioral Health,” the HMA team of Caitlin Thomas-Henkel, Uma Ahluwalia, Heidi Arthur and Annalisa Baker, and Devon Schechinger address key issues and highlighted practice recommendations that are designed to bring forth systems change and raise awareness at the state level. This brief provides state policymakers and behavioral health leaders with a vision for coordinating and optimizing services to promote mental health well-being, prevent behavioral health conditions, and ensure access to a coordinated continuum of behavioral healthcare.

The Role of Specialized Managed Care in Addressing the Intersection of Child Welfare Reform and Behavioral Health Transformation

Download

“The Role of Specialized Manage Care,” written by HMA experts, Heidi Arthur, Angela Bergefurd, Caitlin Thomas-Henkel and Uma Ahluwalia, focuses on addressing the intersection of child welfare reform and health transformation. This issue brief explains how specialized Medicaid managed care plans can ensure better alignment between child welfare and behavioral healthcare services. The role of special needs plans for the delivery of coordinated care is emphasized and the opportunities to leverage specialty managed care plans by states are highlighted.

Improving Outcomes for Children in Crisis with Evidence-Based Tools

Download

In this brief, “Improving Outcomes for Children in Crisis with Evidence-Based Tools,” the HMA team of experts which include Rachel Bembas, Lauren Niles, Caitlin Thomas-Henkel and Uma Ahluwalia, outline limitations of current pediatric quality measures and several approaches to measure and track goals and objectives while offering a call to action at both the state and local levels. The brief calls on federal, state, and local entities, payers, provider organizations, and community-based organizations to collectively take steps to bolster and improve existing standardized monitoring, evaluation, and quality measurement efforts for youth mental health.

Early Childhood Mental Health: the Importance of Caregiver Support in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Clinical Interventions for Children

Download

The significance of caregiver support for healthy early childhood outcomes is highlighted in this brief “Early Childhood Mental Health: The Importance of Caregiver Support in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Clinical Interventions for Children written by HMA experts Christina Altmayer, Caitlin Thomas-Henkel and Uma Ahluwalia. This brief explores the role of Medicaid in advancing early childhood child mental health outcomes, the importance of caregiver support in promoting healthy child development, and innovative practices aimed at increasing access to supports.

Connecting Schools to the Larger Youth Behavioral Health System: Early Innovations from California

Download

Connecting Schools to the Larger Youth Behavioral Health System: Early Innovations from California focuses on the role schools can play in ensuring that children and youth get the behavioral healthcare they need. Written by HMA experts, Michael Butler, Ilia Rolon, Caitlin Thomas-Henkel and Uma Ahluwalia, this brief outlines California’s innovative approach to expanding access while describing the lessons learned and potential implications for other states.

Webinar replay: Opportunities for state regulators to shape policy and regulation of treatment for substance use disorder

Watch Now

This webinar was held on November 2, 2023.

Health Management Associates (HMA) offered a 3-part series of webinars looking at the effect of proposed regulations on delivery of opioid treatment services to the population facing addiction issues. In this third and final webinar, HMA consultants highlighted opportunities for state regulators to shape policy and regulation of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.

New federal regulations encourage significant changes to how opioid treatment is provided, with the goal of expanding access and improving patient-centered care. State regulators will need to adapt their regulatory practices and work closely with Medicaid agencies and treatment providers so the new regulations can achieve their intended goals. This webinar discussed how State Opioid Treatment Authorities (SOTAs), licensing entities, and state Medicaid agencies will need to work together to craft updated regulations, facility licensing, and reimbursement practices that advance person-centered care.

HMA experts were joined by Allegra Schorr, VP, West Midtown Medical Group and President of the Coalition of Medication-Assisted Treatment Providers and Advocates (COMPA). COMPA represents New York State’s Opioid Treatment Programs (OTPs), as well as providers offering office-based medication-assisted treatment, currently providing addiction treatment to over 43,000 New Yorkers.

Learning Objectives:

New Regulatory Requirements – Overview of state rules around opioid treatment vs the new requirements.
How to Improve SUD Treatment Access – Specific recommendations on statutory and regulatory changes that could lead to more patient centered treatment options.
States Leading the Way – Examples from states that are leading the way to expand access and reduce stigma.

Other webinars in this series:

Watch the replay of Part 1 on Opioid Treatment Providers

Watch the replay of Part 2 on Opioid State Payers Aligning Incentives for Treatment

October 2023

Download

Michigan releases Medicaid Managed Care RFP

Read Blog

This week, our In Focus section reviews the Michigan Medicaid Managed Care Comprehensive Health Care Program (CHCP) request for proposals (RFP), which the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services released on October 30, 2023. CHCP covers 2.2 million Medicaid members and is worth approximately $15 billion.

MIHealthyLife

The rebid is part of MIHealthyLife, an initiative that the department launched in 2022 to strengthen Medicaid services through new Medicaid health plan contracts. At that time, Michigan Medicaid sought input from nearly 10,000 stakeholders in an effort to strengthen Medicaid managed care contracts and create a more equitable, coordinated, and person-centered system of care. Based on the feedback, the department designed the RFP with a focus on five strategic pillars:

• Serve the Whole Person, Coordinating Health and Health-Related Needs
• Give All Kids a Healthy Start
• Promote Health Equity and Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities
• Drive Innovation and Operational Excellence
• Engage Members, Families and Communities

RFP

Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) serve 10 regions, each consisting of multiple counties. MCOs will bid on one or more of the regions throughout the state. Each region requires at least two plans, with the exception of Region 1, a rural area that includes Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where members are enrolled in a single plan.

As part of the MIHealthyLife initiative, the RFP will include the following changes:

• Prioritizing health equity by requiring Medicaid health plans to achieve National Committee for Quality Assurance Health Equity Accreditation
• Addressing social determinants of health through investment in and engagement with community-based organizations
• Increasing childhood immunization rates, including greater provider participation in the Vaccines for Children program
• Adopting a more person-centered approach to mental health coverage
• Ensuring access to health care providers by strengthening network requirements
• Increasing Medicaid Health Plan accountability and clarifying expectations to advance state priorities

Timeline

Proposals are due January 16, 2024, and implementation is anticipated to begin October 1, 2024. Contracts will run through September 30, 2029, with three one-year optional periods.

Current Market

Michigan currently has nine plans, which serve more than 2.2 million Medicaid and expansion members. The table below provides a breakdown of the plan market share by enrollment.

Link to RFP

Featured Services:

Receive timely expert insights on topics you care about.

1384 Results found.

November 8, 2023