HEALTH CARE REFORM and PARITY
Maximizing Systems for a Change (Joint Project of SAAS and AHP Healthcare Solutions, October 2011)
This report explores the powerful catalysts shaping healthcare services and demanding new business models, access mechanisms, quality practices, and financing paradigms. Many of these catalysts have a "multiplier" or compounding effect. One example would be how the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 is being magnified by the Affordable Care Act.
The report discusses why and how a systems change approach is necessary to help SUD providers understand and adapt to changes taking place in the most beneficial ways possible. The report proposes an actual scope of work that all States can consider and conduct with limited external support and facilitation. Having framed the current environment, the report offers a series of global recommendations for action at the State level that are based on what is taking place nationally. We believe it's in every stakeholder's best interest to act now and to be thorough in this process. Making hasty changes or waiting too long to act will likely have negative and potentially dire unintended long-term consequences.
PARITY
Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008: Frequently Asked Questions
This one page fact sheet from the CMS Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight is the latest in a series of Frequently Asked Questions on the implementation of the MHPAEA.
HEALTH CARE DELIVERY
Building Medical Homes: Lessons from Eight States with Emerging Programs (Commonwealth Fund and NASHP, Dec 2011)
Many states are strategically engaging public and private payers in the design of medical home programs as a means of achieving better health outcomes, increasing patient satisfaction, and lowering health care costs. Eight states profiled in this report - Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Texas, and Virginia-are at different stages in the development and implementation of a medical home, using different strategies to encourage primary care providers to adopt the model, including developing state medical home qualification standards instead of national standards. Their experiences demonstrate that states can play a critical role in convening stakeholders, helping practices improve performance, and addressing antitrust concerns that arise when multiple payers come together to create a medical home program.
MEDICAID
Ten Ways to Make Health Coverage Enrollment and Renewal Easy (Enroll America, August 2011)
When enrollment for expanded coverage starts in 2013, how will the process work for consumers? Will it be like comparison shopping at "Orbitz.com" (with an integrated process to find out whether you qualify for a discount), or will it be like completing an annual income tax return. Ensuring that Americans get enrolled will also take concerted public education campaigns to let people know that coverage and financial aid are available to them and that signing up for coverage is easy. This issue brief presents key elements of an easy enrollment process that can guide enrollment policy decisions in any state.
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