Center for Health Care Strategies

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) is a federally recognized Native American nation with roughly 15,000 members. Most of?these members reside in the Qualla Boundary, Tribal land spanning five counties in western North Carolina. In 2021, EBCI became the first Native nation in the country to launch its own Medicaid managed care entity, called the EBCI Tribal Option. The EBCI Tribal Option offers care management and other value-added services to its members. This profile highlights this first-of-its-kind program that provides high-quality, culturally tailored health care to meet the unique needs of Medicaid-enrolled Native community members. ?? https://bit.ly/4hzVJON Rob Houston, Anne Smithey, Armelle Casau

How can health care and homeless services unite to make a difference for people experiencing homelessness? California’s CalAIM initiative to transform Medicaid provides new opportunities to integrate health care, housing, and social services for the 181,000+ Californians experiencing homelessness. Over 24 months, the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) with support from the California Health Care Foundation, fostered innovative cross-sector pilots through Partnerships for Action: California Health Care & Homelessness Learning Collaborative. This new brief shares key lessons from these pilot teams, providing practical guidance for organizations aiming to build effective cross-sector partnerships, including findings from a developmental evaluation by Mt. Auburn Associates. ?? https://bit.ly/4hqp2CY Meryl Schulman, Devon Winey, Michelle Schneidermann

Please join Advancing Health Equity: Leading Care, Payment, and Systems Transformation for the second in its 2025 webinar series, “Strategies from the Field: Transforming Care to Advance Health Equity" on Wednesday, March 19, 2-3 pm EST. CHCS Senior Program Officer Vicki Quintana will be joined by AHE’s LC teams to explore strategies for planning and implementing care transformations designed to reduce health care disparities for Medicaid populations. To register and learn more please visit: https://bit.ly/AHE-webinar.

The Medicaid Innovation Collaborative (MIC) is seeking tech-enabled solutions to address the health-related social needs of #Medicaid members in Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia. #HRSN of focus include food and nutrition insecurity, housing affordability and quality, and transportation services. Tech companies working in this space can learn more below and apply ??

Prior to 2024, Medicare members who needed behavioral health services more frequently than outpatient therapy, but less intensive than partial or inpatient hospitalization, fell into a coverage gap. Medicare now covers intensive outpatient program (IOP) services, filling this critical gap in care. However, the change could also impact Medicaid beneficiaries, particularly people dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. This brief outlines key considerations for states Medicaid agencies and other Medicaid stakeholders to ensure continued and expanded access to IOP services. It highlights opportunities to build awareness among stakeholders about the recent Medicare coverage change, assess provider incentives, monitor provider networks, and promote person-centered care. The brief was developed in partnership by the Center for Health Care Strategies and the Legal Action Center through support from Arnold Ventures. https://bit.ly/4bK08Nt Gretchen Bell, Andrew Spicer, Deborah Steinberg

Natural disasters, like flooding and wildfires, are happening with greater frequency and impact in recent years. These severe weather events negatively impact health outcomes when people cannot access critical health care services or medications, or when they lose access to the power grid, secure housing, transportation, food, and clean air and water. This risk is pronounced for Medicaid members, especially members with pre-existing health conditions, disabilities, or those with limited resources to recover from these types of events. State Medicaid agencies play a key role in disaster relief, helping individuals get access to essential health care services and medications. This blog post explores three opportunities for state Medicaid agencies to take proactive steps to address members’ health needs in the event of a natural disaster. https://bit.ly/3DyvH0k Armelle Casau, Rachel M Yard

?? Check out this Center for Health Care Strategies Policy Cheat Sheet that explores what the BH?CONNECT initiative means for behavioral health care in California! While developed for the California context, this resource can inform behavioral health transformation efforts in other states. ?? https://lnkd.in/gtq9UDxC

Integrating care across provider types is a key strategy for improving care for people with complex health and social needs. This is particularly valuable in primary care, which is often an individual’s entry point into the health system and is frequently responsible for coordinating care for this population. The Better Care Playbook recently spoke with Michaela Kerrissey, PhD, associate professor of management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to better understand primary care practices’ experiences with care integration and how Medicaid policy can influence integration. https://bit.ly/4i76BEy Kelsey Brykman

California is home to more people experiencing homelessness than any other state in the nation. The state’s CalAIM initiative has created new opportunities for homeless service organizations to partner with the health care sector to better align and enhance care delivery for Californians experiencing homelessness. This profile series explores innovative cross-sector partnerships that are working to improve care and service delivery for people experiencing homelessness through CalAIM services. The profiles share insights from pilot teams that participated in CHCS’ Partnerships for Action: California Health Care & Homelessness Learning Collaborative, an initiative supported by the California Health Care Foundation. https://bit.ly/4iq2mnE Zackiya Grant-Knight, Jahira Sterling, MPA, Meryl Schulman

CMS’ recent approval of California’s BH-CONNECT Section 1115 demonstration brings key resources to expand community-based services to address members’ behavioral health needs. The demonstration is part of a broader statewide BH-CONNECT initiative that aims to transform access to care for the growing number of Medi-Cal members with serious mental health conditions or substance use disorders who struggle to find treatment. This CHCS Policy Cheat Sheet, developed with support from the California Health Care Foundation, explores what the BH-CONNECT initiative means for #behavioralhealth care in California. This resource can also inform behavioral health transformation efforts in other states. https://bit.ly/3EXgYwl Logan Kelly