Colorado Receives Grant for Health Benefit Exchange

Health insurance exchanges are online marketplaces for individuals and small businesses to compare plans that are similar in benefits for cost and quality and determine whether they are eligible for tax breaks.  Consumers will be able to go online for assistance and to get enrolled. 

Colorado received a Level I establishment grant in the amount of $17.9 million for the Colorado Health Benefit Exchange.  The Exchange will open for enrollment on October 1^st of 2013 and coverage will begin January 1^st of 2014.  Check out the Colorado Health Benefit Exchange website to follow developments or contact Alicia for more information. 

Weekly Bill Tracker

Check out our bill tracker to see which bills CRHC is reviewing or has taken a position. 

Update on Medicaid Expansion to Adults without Dependent Children

The planned Medicaid expansion for low-income adults without dependent children has undergone a few changes in its implementation plans.  First, the program will initially roll out on a limited basis, will only be available for those who have incomes below 10% of the federal poverty level, and will only be available for 10,000 persons.  The method of determining who will be the 10,000 is by random selection, as opposed to first come, first serve.  All others who would otherwise be eligible will be put on a wait list.

Applications can be first submitted in on April 1 of this year (but if received for processing earlier, the application will be denied), and the first random selection process will be run on May 15^th.  Each month thereafter, if there are spots that happen to open up on the Medicaid program, additional random selection processes will be run to keep the program filled.

This means that all estimated 49,511 adults without dependent children who live under 10% of the poverty level (or single adults earning less than $100 a month, or a couple earning less than $122 a month) will continue to have a chance to get on the program after its initial roll-out.  For more information about this program, check out these resources from the state Medicaid agency (HCPF).

While the state believes this program will roll out as expected, these new decisions are still pending approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at the federal level.

Also, encouraging folks to apply for this new eligibility category, the hope is that more folks will receive the opportunity to receive other resources they are eligible for such as food and/or cash assistance and CICP.  Since clinics presumably are already seeing much of this population, assisting the newly eligible with their benefits and assisting the ineligible with applying for other services will be key to answering the needs of the entire population.  To help folks meet their needs outside of Medicaid, check out this list of statewide resources.

For more information, or to provide feedback, please contact Alicia Haywood. 

Take Action Today - Contact Congress Regarding Disproportionate Rural Impact on Budget Cuts

Votes will likely take place on the hill today regarding cuts which can be harmful to Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, and other safety net providers. Please contact your members of Congress to let them know that any reduction in services in rural areas will likely affect the health status of those residents who rely on safety net providers for essential health care services. New information and opportunities to contact your elected officials will be posted as these issues develop. You may use the message below when contacting your members.

"Recently we received a summary of the agreement that has reportedly been negotiated between House and Senate Conferees to temporarily “fix” the SGR problem, continue the payroll tax cut and address unemployment benefits and extend various expiring provisions.

Included in the summary is an explanation of a provision (Section 3201) dealing with cuts to Medicare bad debt payments to certain providers. Absent from the explanation is any mention of the fact that a significant percentage of the savings attributable to this change will come from the phase-down of Medicare bad debt payments to Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Health Clinics. In fact, the summary fails to mention that this will affect RHCs or CAHs – the smallest and most vulnerable rural providers.

Because of this oversight, we are concerned that you might not be aware of how RHCs and CAHs will be harmed by enactment of this legislation.

The summary states that over a three year period, Medicare bad debt payments to providers receiving 100% of bad debt will be have their bad debt payments limited to 65% of allowable bad debt."

Check out the Colorado Rural Health Center's State Bill Tracker

CRHC monitors legislation at the state and federal level to assess potential impacts on rural providers and communities.  You can see which state bills CRHC is supporting, monitoring or opposing by clicking here.  This link is a static link.  You may save it into your favorites and open it at any time to see the bills that have been introduced which may impact the healthcare in rural Colorado, as well as to check their status and see CRHC’s position.  For more information, contact Alicia Haywood. 

National Rural Health Association and Policy Partners Ask Congress to Protect the Rural Health Safety Net

More than 450 rural health advocates attended the NRHA’s 2012 Rural Health Policy Institute in January.  The Colorado Rural Health Center and other rural advocacy partners asked our members of Congress to support the fragile rural healthcare delivery system with three legislative requests. 

  

1. Protect and extend vital rural Medicare programs.  Failure to extend these important provisions past their 2012 expiration dates will harm rural providers and the patients they serve.

2. Send the message that sequestration will disproportionately harm rural providers. The Budget Control Act mandated a Medicare spending sequester that will disproportionately harm rural providers and should be modified to avoid crises in access to care.

3. Support strong funding for the rural health safety net.  Strengthen the "rural health safety net" by providing critical funding in fiscal year 2013 for programs vital to the efficient and effective delivery of health care in rural America.

Check out the NRHA Policy Institute Action Kit to read more about these rural programs, the sequestration and the potential impacts on rural providers and communities.

New Seats on the ACC Advisory Committee

The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing is adding two new seats to the Accountable Care Collaborative (ACC) Program Improvement Advisory Committee.  One seat will represent dually eligible individuals (Medicare and Medicaid), and one seat will represent the adults without dependent children.  These committee members will act as liaisons between the ACC Program Improvement Advisory Committee and the AwDC Advisory Committee and Duals Stakeholder Groups, as the Department plans to enroll both dually eligible individuals and adults without dependent children into the ACC program.  Information about the committee, as well as an application, may be found here.   


Applications are due March 15th.  You may return your application to the Department by faxing it to (303) 866.2803, or you may attach it in an email and send it to ACC@hcpf.state.co.us.  For more information, contact Alicia Haywood at CRHC, or Kathryn Jantz at the Department.