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February
29, 2008 |
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ACTION
ALERT Contact
Senate HHS Policy Committee members on
County-Based Health Care PurchasingBill AMC’s
county-based health care purchasing bills were introduced this week in
both the House and Senate. SF 3241 (Erickson
Ropes)/HF 3524 (Liebling) modifies
the county-based purchasing statutes to make it easier for counties to
pursue this option in their area. County-based purchasing is an
arrangement whereby counties or groups of counties function as a health
plan to serve people enrolled in publicly funded health care programs.
Twenty- seven counties have entered into such arrangements in order to
better integrate health care and social services. Two new groups of
counties are now actively planning for county based purchasing.
These are the StedFast Health Plan in SE Minnesota and Southern Prairie
Health Purchasing Alliance in SW Minnesota.
The
bills AMC supports require the commissioner of Human Services to approve
county-based purchasing as the single plan in any part of the state where
counties have selected that option, assuming they meet the requirements
under law. It also specifies that in areas with multiple plans, persons
who do not select a health plan are automatically enrolled in the
county-based plan. These
bills will require that all healthcare products administered by the
Commissioner of Human Services be delivered by CBP entities, not just
Medical Assistance and GAMC. Another
provision will level the playing field on appeals by counties either about
the administration of PMAP in counties or the decision of the Commissioner
about plan selection in a given area and provides for sufficient notice to
the counties and the three-member appeals panel. This is
accomplished by changing the composition of the panel from two state
appointed members and one AMC appointed member to one state member, one
AMC member and one appointed jointly. Counties
will be testifying in a hearing Monday, March 3, at 12:30 in the Senate
Health, Housing and Family Security Committee (Marty). A hearing in
the House has been promised to authors there, but the date has not been
set yet as of today. Contact
Senate Policy Committee
members to
voice your support for these bills! Click here for Senate Policy Committee
Member List For
more information contact: Stan Groff, or Patricia Coldwell,
AMC
Health and Human Services Policy Analysts. UPDATE U.S.
Senate approves targeted case management rule
delay On
February 26, the U.S. Senate passed the Indian Healthcare Improvement Act
(S. 1200), which contains a provision authored by Senator Coleman and
others that protects vulnerable Minnesotans’ access to critical health,
education and social services. Co-sponsored by Senator Amy
Klobuchar, the bipartisan legislation places a moratorium on the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) December 4, 200,7 rule on Case
Management and Targeted Case Management (TCM), which goes into effect on
March 3 of this year, and would redefine and place strict limits on these
services – severely limiting a state’s ability to care for vulnerable
populations. The new moratorium would prevent these regulations from
taking effect until March of 2009, giving the government additional time
to address the rules’ unintended consequences. The Indian Healthcare
Improvement Act passed by a vote of 83 – 10. Case
Management and TCM services are services that assist low-income
individuals and families in gaining access to needed medical, social and
educational services. According to the Minnesota Department of Human
Services, it is estimated that the new rule could result in cuts of at
least $60.0 million for Minnesota annually, based solely on the changes to
child welfare services. It is likely the total loss to the state
could far exceed this number when other services are also factored
in. The
bill still needs to pass the House and be signed by the President in order
to become law. *ADMINISTRATORS
/AUDITORS: Please share a hard copy of all AMC UPDATE emails with
any county board members who do not have email. **If
you do not wish to receive these emails in the future, please reply to
this message with the word ‘REMOVE’ in the subject line. |
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Association
of Minnesota Counties 125
Charles Avenue Saint
Paul, MN 55103-2108 Phone:
651.224.3344, Fax: 651.224.6540 |
