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Brief & Report

HMA and National Council for Mental Wellbeing release issue brief on diversity in the behavioral health workforce

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The third issue brief, in a series by HMA and National Council colleagues that examines the workforce crisis facing the country鈥檚 behavioral health system, highlights the access and service delivery challenges presented and exacerbated by health disparities and inequities.

The brief focuses on the need to recruit, train, and retain a diverse workforce in order to reduce behavioral health disparities and engage populations with historic and structural disparities, in order to build trust with providers and in the overall healthcare system.

Outlining challenges and actionable solutions, the brief points to the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) model as an opportunity for states and provider organizations to partner and address health disparities and social determinates of health for underserved and marginalized populations.

Additional briefs in this series are Behavioral Health Workforce is a National Crisis: Immediate Policy Actions for States and Immediate Policy Actions to Address the National Workforce Shortage and Improve Care

The following HMA colleagues contributed to this series: Uma Ahluwalia, Heidi Arthur, Angela Bergefurd, Cammie Cantrell, Nora Carreras, Suzanne Daub, Gina Eckart, Gina Lasky, Juliet Marsala, Emma Martino, Sandra Oxley, Deb Peartree, Erica Reaves, and Doris Tolliver.

Brief & Report

Learning from COVID-19-related flexibilities: moving toward more person-centered Medicare and Medicaid programs

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A new person-centered assessment framework and issue brief, authored by HMA 量子资源s in conjunction with Manatt Health, examine the temporary regulatory Medicare and Medicaid flexibilities implemented during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) and aimed at ensuring access to care for older adults and people with chronic conditions and disabilities.

As these temporary flexibilities are currently set to expire in April 2022, the report provides insight and guidance for policymakers as they assess the impact these regulatory policy changes are having on advancing person- and community-centered care and consider possible permanence of these changes.

The framework is designed to help facilitate these conversations and decisions and assess the potential for continuation of the regulatory flexibilities to advance person- and community-centered care, facilitate access to care in the least intensive or least restrictive setting, and better align Medicare and Medicaid program rules.

HMA colleagues Jennifer Podulka, Yamini Narayan, and Keyan Javadi contributed to the framework and research.

Brief & Report

Issue brief examines greater flexibility for primary care models

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An issue brief released today outlines new Medicare payment models that offer greater flexibility and aim to shift more care to primary care models, moves that can improve quality and reduce costs. HMA authors, Jennifer Podulka, Yamini Narayan, and Lynea Holmes found the two newest primary care payment models, Global and Professional Direct Contracting (which will be re-branded as Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (ACO REACH) beginning January 1, 2023) and Primary Care First offer more flexibility than previously released approaches and represent a promising step forward for primary care.

The report, , also notes that to increase the likelihood that models achieve overall cost savings and/or quality improvement, one option for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation is to test approaches that place greater value on primary care and give primary care providers greater flexibility to tailor care for people outside of a fee-for-service system. These changes could improve people鈥檚 access to care, the quality of care received, and quality of life.

Brief & Report

HMA, Milbank brief examines nursing facility care

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Residents in nursing facilities faced higher infection rates and worse overall care experiences during the COVID-19 public health emergency highlighting long-standing concerns about the quality and cost-effectiveness of nursing facility care, especially for residents of color.

In a recent issue brief published by the Milbank Memorial Fund that HMA COO Chuck Milligan co-authored with Kate McEvoy, a program officer with Milbank, examined disparities in access, levels of care, and resident outcomes, and provided recommendations and guidance for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on future approach to federal policy in nursing facilities.

The brief, , suggests CMS take the following steps to improve nursing facility oversight and care:

  • Endorse linkage of any further public health emergency-related funding or other federal financial reimbursement to quality improvement.
  • Align Medicare and Medicaid efforts to promote payment policies that are based on risk adjustment for complex care and incorporate value-based payment principles, eliminate unintended consequences of federal policies such as routine approval of nursing home bed taxes, and adopt a common foundation of quality measures.
  • Expand existing guidance on rebalancing long-term services and supports.
  • Enhance conditions of participation for nursing homes and hospitals by including structural measures such as census and staff turnover.
  • Build out existing mechanisms like Care Compare to enhance public transparency, availability, and usability of cost report and ownership information and to provide timely and complete information on nursing facility citations.
Brief & Report

Issue brief proposes local option for uninsured

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Examining the more than 3 million non-elderly poor adults in states without Medicaid expansion, the HMA team of Matt Powers and former HMA colleagues Nora Leibowitz and Jack Meyer, have authored an issue brief proposing a local health insurance option to fill gaps for these individuals who frequently lack access to meaningful healthcare.

The brief, , published by the , recognizes the critical role local entities and providers play in providing care and proposes a Local Choice Option, could:

  • Provide a comprehensive insurance product that promotes appropriate access to healthcare and better health outcomes
  • Repurpose funding now used only for direct care to provide healthcare more efficiently
  • Support local customization and create an alternative to an open-ended entitlement program in states where that is not currently politically tenable

The brief concludes a Local Choice Option would be a sound investment with the potential for quick implementation and benefits of health insurance not currently available to people living in poverty in non-expansion states.

Brief & Report

Report examines the value of community behavioral health providers and their networks

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A recent report examines the importance of behavioral healthcare (BH) and its ability to improve outcomes and reduce costs when integrated in meaningful ways with medical services, especially primary care.

An HMA team of behavioral health 量子资源s, including Annalisa Baker, Ann Filiault and Josh Rubin, published the report, with the New York State Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare and the New York State Collaborative BH Independent Provider Associations (IPA).

Patients with mental health and substance use disorders are heavy utilizers of healthcare services and Medicaid spending is nearly four times the cost compared to other enrollees. By developing and working within IPAs, providers can enable community healthcare and come together to establish systems of population care, build technology infrastructures, develop needed workforce and work toward value-based healthcare.

New York state is investing in the development of behavioral IPAs through the Behavioral Health Value Based Payment Readiness Program. The report outlines policy recommendations for promoting BH IPAs and maximize their positive impacts including:

  • Facilitate access to data for BH IPAs by enabling them to access the Medicaid Data.
  • Warehouse and including data sharing requirements in future managed care contracts.
  • Include BH IPAs in network adequacy definitions for Medicaid MCO Contracts to ensure that Medicaid beneficiaries have access to integrated behavioral health care and revise the definition of valid VBP Level 2 or 3 arrangements to include BH IPAs.
  • Fund a Phase 2 Infrastructure Program to provide the BH IPAs additional time to realize the goals of the BH VBP Readiness Program.
Brief & Report

Second behavioral health issue brief focuses on workforce crisis and call for immediate action

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The (National Council) and HMA have released the second in the series of three issue briefs examining the ongoing, and exacerbated, workforce and staffing crisis facing behavioral health services providers and facilities.

The brief, Immediate Policy Actions to Address the National Workforce Shortage and Improve Care, focuses on clinical transformation and provides short-term recommendations to support states in addressing the workforce shortages, provider burn-out, recruitment and retention.

Recommendations include:

  • Adopting transformative clinical approaches and team-based care
  • Identifying short-term actions and developing long-term strategies for improvement
  • Expanding the workforce to build a more robust provider pipeline
  • Increase adoption of in-person/telehealth hybrid models

HMA and the National Council colleagues contributed to the briefs and surrounding research.

Brief & Report

HMA report compares quality outcomes across state Medicaid program delivery models

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A recently completed analysis of the impact of Medicaid managed care on key quality indicators found managed care organizations (MCO) outperformed fee-for-service (FFS) and primary care case management (PCCM) programs for both Child and Adult Core Set measures, once the data was normalized with respect to beneficiary distribution in each model.

The resulting听report听was in response to more states transitioning Medicaid beneficiaries from FFS to MCOs with a goal of reducing costs and improving quality. The HMA team,听David Wedemeyer, Anthony Davis,听Sharon Silow-Carroll, and Joe Moser, used the 2019 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Core Set of Adult and Child metrics that cross the care continuum to develop a standardization model. The model aimed to classify quality outcomes on a state-by-state basis, based on the percent of members in direct FFS arrangements, MCOs, and PCCM programs.

The analysis suggested that performance differences could be attributed to the fact MCOs have structured care coordination and specialized programs, such as disease management, population health programs, and social determinants of health programs in place. As the HMA team drilled down into sub-sections of the Core Set related to key domains such as preventive care, women鈥檚 health, disease management, and behavioral health, the findings were consistent in that MCOs tended to perform higher overall when compared to FFS and PCCM across all major domain categories.

In summary, 贬惭础鈥檚 findings suggest that the growth of Medicaid managed care plans has led to higher quality scores in several core areas of adult and child measures, lending support to the idea that managed care has had a positive impact overall on the quality of care for Medicaid members across the country. Additionally, 贬惭础鈥檚 review of the data and the team鈥檚 deep understanding of state oversight of managed care programs suggests that when a state strongly embraces a quality improvement framework as a long-term strategy and partners with its managed care plans on performance-based contracts, quality scores and outcomes may be stronger. The report also suggests that stronger state efforts to work with managed care plans to develop clear expectations and collaboration, while also leveraging MCOs鈥� access to clinical and quality data sources, may contribute to higher quality scores.

Brief & Report

HMA 量子资源s evaluate differences between Medicare Advantage and Fee-For-Service Medicare responses to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic

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In a听new report听released by the Better Medicare Alliance听(BMA),听HMA colleagues Zach Gaumer and Elaine Henry听concluded that the greater flexibility of the Medicare Advantage plan model enabled plans to offer providers additional support during 2020听that听were not found within the听Fee-For-Service (FFS)听Medicare听program. The report鈥檚 findings were previewed in a recent panel discussion during the听BMA鈥檚听.听

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Brief & Report

National Council for Mental Wellbeing and HMA have partnered to create a three-part series that examines behavioral health workforce crisis

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As demand for behavioral health services continues to grow, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, staffing and workforce capacity to deliver services has not kept up with demand. In a three-part series of issue briefs, colleagues from 量子资源 (HMA) and the (the National Council) offer immediate steps states can take to increase capacity and build a more stable workforce.

The first brief in the series focuses on Policy, Financial Strategies and Regulatory Waivers, and outlines solutions that can be implemented quickly to reduce administrative burden and maximize existing provider resources.

Several HMA and the National Council colleagues, contributed to the briefs and surrounding research.

Brief & Report

Study examines Austin LGBTQIA+ community, quality of life

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A new report summarizing the ShoutOut Austin Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) Quality of Life Study, has been released. The report summarizes research conducted by HMA Community Strategies (HMACS) which included town hall meetings, surveys, stakeholder interviews, and focus group responses from a diverse group of community members.

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Brief & Report

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation: Recommendations for Future Direction

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A recent issue brief, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation: Recommendations for Future Direction, revisits questions raised in a previous HMA report and offers potential answers to guide progress and changes for demonstrations within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services鈥� (CMS) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) or the Innovation Center.

The brief examines options for how CMMI could refine their approach to testing ideas for improving the Medicare program. HMA colleagues Jennifer Podulka, Yamini Narayan, and Lynea Holmes wrote the brief which was supported by Arnold Ventures.

贬惭础鈥檚 earlier brief examined the progress the Innovation Center has made in learning from Medicare-focused models during its first decade and raised questions to guide policymakers as they plan for the next phase of the Innovation Center鈥檚 work. In the new report, the team returns to those questions and offers potential answers.

The brief outlines seven pairs of competing goals and offers four recommendations that may, in part, help to balance these competing goals, as they are designed to increase the transparency of Innovation Center efforts and improve the likelihood that more models succeed in decreasing spending or improving quality. The recommendations include:

  • The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should establish a National Healthcare Transformation Strategy
  • CMMI should articulate a vision for how different models work together
  • CMMI should tailor models to test ideas that address the largest areas of spending growth and key areas of quality concerns, including
    • Include Part D in models
    • Include Part C in models
    • Promote primary care as a counterbalance to excessive low-value care
    • Address social determinants of health and other drivers of quality and access disparities
  • Congress and HHS should revisit the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC)
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