November 3, 2014
Congratulations to Generations Family Health Center in Willimantic! Generations’ Willimantic site was recently granted PCMH Level II Status by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)!
In This Week’s Issue
Announcements
Trainings & Webinars
Funding Opportunities
SBIRT
Ask CHCACT!
Upcoming CHCACT Meetings
Resources
This Week in Health Policy News
Events/Educational Opportunities
Announcements
Love CHCACT? Check out the Job Bank, including three jobs @ CHCACT: a Finance Manager, Workforce Development Program Manager and a Behavioral Health Program Manager. Spread the word!
CHCACT has centralized many helpful Ebola preparation resources into one place. Check out CHCACT’s Emergency Preparedness page, which will be updated frequently with guidances, protocols, signs/symptoms and more.
Tweet of the Week
#CT #FQHCs face 70% cut in fed $ if Health Ctr Fund expires! #Congress, pls act soon. RT to spread the word! #AccessIsTheAnswer @CFAHC
— CHCACT (@CTHealthCenters) October 29, 2014
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New on Get-Centered
Our New Get-Centered Blog features a round-up of National Latino AIDS Awareness Day by CHCACT Program Coordinator Jennifer Succi!
SBIRT in Your Corner
Learn more about CT SBIRT here!
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Trainings & Webinars
Webinar on Health Insurance Literacy. State of Connecticut Healthcare Advocate Vicki Veltri, J.D. will present a webinar, Thursday, November 13th from 12-1:00 pm, on health insurance terminology and usage. The webinar is designed for CACs and others who work with individuals learning to use health insurance. Please see the CHCACT calendar for details.
CT Health Policy Project Webinar on Payment Reform. Join this webinar, November 18th @ 1:00 pm to learn about shared savings models and other health care payment reform options from Bob Berenson, MD of the Urban Institute. Click here to register.
BPHC Thursday TA Sessions: The Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC)’s Project Officers will be offering technical assistance sessions every other Thursday @ 1:00 pm, beginning September 25th, by webinar. Contact David Dietz for details. The tentative schedule of sessions is
9.25.14: LCDR Bryna Forson – Behavioral Health Integration among FQHC
10.9.14: Erica Clary – Community-Based Information Sharing – Community Circles
10.23.14: Su Walter – Current Models at CHCs that Reduce Preventable Hospitalizations and ER Visits
11.6.14: Melissa Howard – Best Practices and Effective Health Center Leadership
11.20.14: Sam Price – UDS Data Trends in New England Health Centers – Best Practices in Improvement
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Funding Opportunities
REMINDER from HRSA: There are several critical actions you must take to ensure competitive Health Center Program applications can be submitted successfully. First, your organization must have an active SAM.gov registration at the time of application submission. Second, you must have an active AOR (Authorized Organization Representative) in Grants.gov that is approved to submit an application. As a matter of HHS grants policy, without a current SAM.gov registration and a registered AOR, your application will be rejected in grants.gov without further consideration.
Click here to view all of HRSA’s open funding opportunities.
The Office of Rural Health Policy has released a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Rural Healthcare Services Outreach. The goals for the Outreach program are to: 1) expand the delivery of health care services to include new and enhanced services exclusively in rural communities; 2) deliver health care services through a strong consortium; 3) utilize and/or adapt an evidence-based or promising practice model(s) in the delivery of health care services; and 4) improve population health, demonstrate health outcomes and sustainability. Deadline to apply is November 14, 2014.
New Markets Tax Credits Allocation Awards Announced. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced $3.5 billion in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation awards aimed at revitalizing low-income communities and increasing economic opportunity nationwide. More information is available here. Applications for CDFI & CDE Certification are being accepted on an ongoing basis. Click here for application trainings and deadlines.
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Ask CHCACT!
“Ask CHCACT” features questions from health center staff, answered by your favorite CHCACT staff members! For the first several months, the column will focus exclusively on Outreach & Enrollment. Send your questions to ask@chcact.org! Ask CHCACT columns are also archived on the Outreach & Enrollment Resources section of the CHCACT web site. This site is now available to the public, with no log-in requirement!
Sam Pach answers this week’s question:
Q: I received coverage through Access HealthCT last year. Will my coverage be automatically renewed for the upcoming year?
A: It depends. Many people who enrolled last year will be auto-enrolled by Access Health CT (AHCT) into their existing plans for 2015. Starting November 15, these people will have until February 15 to change their plans if they do not want to stay on their plan from last year. Others will not be auto-enrolled if they opted out of auto-renewal (which gave AHCT access to their tax information) when they initially signed up for a health insurance plan last year. These people must manually renew between November 15 and December 15 if they do not want to see a gap in coverage. Someone will also not be automatically renewed if, in the upcoming year, they will be required to pay more for coverage than in the year prior. For example, if a person had a QHP with advance premium tax credits (APTCs) last year but their income has increased so that they are no longer eligible for APTCs they will not be auto renewed. They must manually renew. Renewal notices were mailed out on October 1 and November 1. CACs should ask clients if they reviewed these notifications to determine if they will be automatically renewed. CACs should also ask clients if their income or household has changed which could affect their eligibility for APTCs, cost sharing reductions or Medicaid, which would then affect whether or not they will be auto renewed. Outreach workers will need to ensure those clients do manually re-enroll, so they do not experience a coverage gap.
Upcoming CHCACT Meetings
SNAP Outreach Meeting. Tuesday, November 11th, 1-3:00 pm at CHCACT, 100 Great Meadow Road, Suite 400, Wethersfield. Invitees should have received the agenda and minutes. Contact Leah Tully to RSVP or with questions.
HR Directors’ Workgroup Conference Call. Thursday, November 18th, 10:30-11:30 am. Dial 888-994-2509, participant passcode 519603#. Contact Katie Henley with questions.
All CHCACT Staff can be reached by calling 860.667.7820.
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This Week in Health Policy News
Here is a sampling of health policy news from around the state. If you see something in your local newspaper that you would like featured here in future weeks, please contact Deb Polun at dpolun@chcact.org.
Featured Stories
11.3.14 Hartford Courant/Reminder News: Department of Health Shares Information on Ebola, Enterovirus D68 and More (feat. Generations)
10.28.14 Norwich Bulletin: UCFS Opens In-House Pharmacy at its Town Street Facility
10.28.14 Hartford Courant/Reminder News: Generations Health Center Celebrates 30 Years
State Health News
10.26.14 Shelton Herald: CT’s Health Gap – Where You Live Can Be Good Or Bad For Your Health
ACA/Health Reform News
November 2014 Governing: Why Rejecting Medicaid Expansion Isn’t Easy
10.29.14 CT NewsJunkie (Op-Ed): Changes to Obamacare Needed
National/Other Health News
11.1.14 CT NewsJunkie (Op-Ed): It May Have Been Pink in October, But Let’s Remember Prostate Cancer
11.1.14 Boston Globe: Massachusetts Signs $41B Medicaid Deal With Feds
10.28.14 Governing: Four Takeaways from the Census Report on Poverty
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Resources
CHCACT maintains and regularly updates resources on clinical issues, human resources, HIPAA, SNAP and more! Click here to check out CHCACT’s Resources!*
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has created a resource page with information about the potential health center funding cliff, which could cut FQHC federal grants by 70%. The page has background information, talking points, external analysis, sign-on letters and more. Check out NACHC’s page to arm yourself with the tools you need to advocate for Congress to “Fix the Cliff!”
The CT Health Foundation has created “Covering Connecticut 2014: Because Coverage is the Foundation for Good Health,” a resource packet providing town-by-town information about health insurance coverage and health care access.
Weekly Outreach & Enrollment Newsletter. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) produce the CMS Weekly Assister Newsletter. This weekly Newsletter is the best resource for O/E staff to stay up-to-date on information on health insurance marketplace changes, frequently asked questions, and general advice. To sign up, email CACQuestions@cms.hhs.gov with the subject line: “Add to listserv”
Scope of Project Webpage: HRSA has released a new “Scope of Project” Page on the BPHC website. This page provides a “one-stop-shop” for Health Center Program Scope of Project and Change-in-Scope policy, process, and resources. View the new Scope of Project webpage.
Capital Link Publications. As part of their assistance to health centers, Capital Link has developed a collection of resource publications to assist health centers in accomplishing specific tasks related to the capital development process. These publications are provided to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Primary Care Associations (PCAs) free of charge. Their resources, including publications, reports, and past webinars are available here.
* Some Resources are password-protected. If you would like a password for www.chcact.org, please contact Deb Polun.
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Events/Educational Opportunities
Click here to view our full events calendar. Click here for NACHC Seminars/Conferences/Webcasts.
Welcome to our new events calendar! The calendar is updated on a regular basis with upcoming events, webinars, educational opportunities, outreach activities and more. You can sort the calendar by category and subscribe to calendar updates by clicking here.
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