Jail Transitions Project Gains Traction

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Better Health Together recently launched a new program in Ferry county called the Jail Transitions Project. The jail transitions project connects people exiting the county jail with local care workers and providers. The program has successfully been piloted in Ferry County, and Better Health Together plans to expand the program to more counties in Eastern Washington, including Spokane County.

HCA Public Forum

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On Sunday March 12th, we welcomed the Health Care Authority to the Philanthropy Center for a Public Forum on Medicaid Demonstration. We want to thank the nearly 50 folks who attended for taking time out on a Sunday to talk Medicaid! 

If you missed it, HCA will be giving one final Public Forum through a webinar on March 28th, which you can register for here: https://engage.vevent.com/index.jsp?eid=7198&seid=26

You can see the slide HCA used in their presentation here.

After, BHT gave a short update on our ACH Pilot Project, using these slides. 

Alison's Musings

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Well, the excitement of securing the Medicaid Transformation Demonstration (formerly known as the Waiver) has worn off and you might hear some deep breathing at BHT as we figure out how to move forward on these interconnected health projects to achieve the highest impact. This work was always going to be challenging, but when you add threats to the Affordable Care Act our deep breathing gets a little heavier… The BHT Board and many of our partners have expressed concerns about the disruption to the health system if we see ACA Repeal and Replace. We have concerns that the progress we’ve made in our region to reduce the uninsured rates (check out ACA effects on BHT Region (aka Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers Congressional District)). We by no means think that this is a perfect law. But it has helped our region improve coverage, and coverage is a first step to improving access. We’re focused on moving our work forward despite this uncertainty, and remain confident in our region’s ability to work together to transform the way we deliver community health. We will not be deterred by politics.

So enough about that, let’s get to work. The next step for our Accountable Community of Health is to launch the planning process for the Medicaid Transformation Demonstration Projects. As you can imagine there is a lot to know and understand. We are committed to sharing the resources we have created and information as we learn. A few points to remember:

  • The demonstration projects are funded through a contractual relationship between the federal government and the state of Washington.
  • BHT, as our region’s Accountable Community of Health, will be a partner to the state to implement.
  • We’ll be in charge of planning, selecting and implementing the projects that meet the state and federal criteria.
  • This is not a Grant program. We have to earn the investment through the achievement of outcomes. It’s going to be a much different model than many philanthropic or government contracts are structured, so please be patient as we figure this out together.

And because we need to keep our energy and good humor up, here’s a link to our new favorite Doctor: ZDOGGMD 

Whitman County

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Better Health Together has always considered Whitman county a part of our region. In our programmatic arm, DENT and the Navigator Network both serve Whitman, and the county falls within the service bounds of Empire Health Foundation. However, when ACHs were designated the boundaries were drawn to match the Regional Service Network from which counties purchase their behavioral health services. This put Whitman county in the bounds of Greater Columbia ACH.

Recently, Whitman County Commissioners penned a letter to Health Care Authority requesting to be reassigned to the BHT ACH.

BHT expressed our full support in this letter to HCA, requesting a conversation with key leaders to thoughtfully explore reassignment.

Draft Medicaid Transformation Toolkit

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The Health Care Authority released a draft of the Medicaid Transformation Toolkit for public comment period at the beginning of 2017. All comments will eventually posted and addressed on the Health Care Authority's website. For now, if you would like to read the comments that Better Health Together submitted on behalf of our Board of Directors, you can view our letter here. 

Tribal Members Respond to ACA

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Tribal Members Respond to ACA

The Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) provides authority for Indian Health Systems to be reimbursed by health plans, run programs and supply grants to tribes, with the mission of elevating the health of Indians to the highest possible level. It was made permanent with Obama's signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. 

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Medicaid Demonstration Toolkit Overview

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To the best of our abilities in a 45 minute time slot, at our 1/25/17 Leadership Council meeting, Alison gave an overview of the projects outlined in the Medicaid Demonstration Toolkit. This Toolkit is open for public comment until 5PM February 2nd, we strongly encourage you to get together with some peers (it's 78 pages...), explore the listed projects, and make a public comment to the Health Care Authority. BHT is also requesting feedback on our regions interest and readiness in these projects in a survey below. We will post any feedback we share, or receive from the community on our blog. Here are some useful links from our discussion:

In response to feedback from our January 25th meeting, we are attempting to schedule more opportunities to deep dive into the toolkit. Stay tuned. In the meantime, BHT staff are available for questions.