Upgrade Medicaid

I think many of us need to read this beautiful blessing written by the incredible Kate Bowler. She has a new page for caregivers which is equally valuable for those of us who receive care.
..A Blessing for Care-Giving and Care-Receiving...
by Kate Bowler

Sometimes bodies or minds come undone
and you are carried by a caregiver (often literally).

Whether you wanted this or not,
you have been given the great gift of a Witness Bearer
(or Med Tracker or Insurance Battler or More-Ice-Chips-Please Fetcher).

But other times,
you haven’t found a partner.
Or you never married. Or they left.
Or your person died.
Or you feel like a burden to ask for the help you need.

Bless you, you who are so worth caring for.
You are worth having your needs met.
You are worth shuttling to all of those appointments
and having someone to complain to about another day
of the same unresolved problem.
Your pain does not disqualify you from love.

And to the care-givers who continue to put another’s needs before your own.
Bless you.
We know this isn’t what you had imagined for your life either.
That sometimes you are so tired or lonely or burned out.
But you serve and support and show up, anyway.
You are worth having your needs met too.
But you often don’t. Because this is what the day requires.
This is what love requires.
Bless you all. All you care-givers and care-receivers.
You who do the hard work of love and hope-making.
May you receive the love you so freely give others
and then a little extra (because too much love is never enough).

https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/OEI-09-19-00350.asp

High Rates of Prior Authorization Denials by Some Plans and Limited State Oversight Raise Concerns About Access to Care in Medicaid Managed Care Overall, the MCOs included in our review denied one out of every eight requests for the prior authorization of services in 2019. Among the 115 MCOs in our review, 12 had prior authorization denial rates greater than 25 percent-twice the overall rate.

Our provider and member town halls are tonight! Join us to discuss the upcoming Home Health listening session.
Sign up here: https://hhs.iowa.gov/ime/about/advisory-groups/townhall

Don't forget to sign up for Iowa Medicaid's virtual town halls tomorrow night!
Sign up here: https://hhs.iowa.gov/ime/about/advisory-groups/townhall

Joint Statement from the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL)

Tell Congress Medicaid Cuts are off the table!

The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2811 (https://bit.ly/3MLLrie), the “Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023” on April 26, 2023. This bill would cause deep cuts to discretionary spending. The bill would suspend the debt limit through March 31, 2024, or until the debt increases by $1.5 trillion, whichever comes first.

This bill would impose radical work requirements for Medicaid enrollees ages 19 to 55 in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling, resulting in millions of people losing Medicaid benefits, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (https://bit.ly/3q4NBRe). It would also expand work requirements for the SNAP and TANF programs.

People with disabilities rely on Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) to live independently in their communities and NOT IN Nursing Homes. Throughout the United States, more than 650,000 people are stuck on HCBS waiting lists (https://bit.ly/3IzZ5m1) and are not getting the services they need. Cuts to Medicaid and Work Requirements causing more red tape would make it even harder for people with disabilities, their families, and the workers who support them to access the care they need to survive.

We are asking you to contact your House member with the following message:

1. No cuts to Medicaid.
2. Keep Medicaid funding and Work requirements for Medicaid eligibility OUT of debt ceiling negotiations.

To find your representative’s contact information, visit the House Directory (house.gov/representatives).

Rally to Protect Medicaid

NCIL will also be hosting an online rally on Tuesday, May 23 from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

• Register for the rally: https://bit.ly/41TGxUw

CART and ASL will be provided. This event will also be recorded and posted to the On-Demand section of NCIL’s website (ncil.org/ncil-training-on-demand). If you need any additional accommodations, please contact Jenny Sichel at [email protected].

Image: NCIL Logo: National Council on Independent Living

Iowa Medicaid’s Home Health Listening Session is tonight! Members and providers are invited to join the session, discuss challenges they have had with the system and propose solutions on how Iowa Medicaid can improve these programs. We hope to see you there!
Sign up here: https://hhs.iowa.gov/ime/about/advisory-groups/townhall/listening-sessions

There's no bigger way to show your unconditional love for someone than showing you care. PASS IT ON!

From National Social Work Association- Please do this today, if at all possible. The full Senate will be debating this afternoon (Monday 4-24), so today is a great time to reach out to them.
There appears to be a stalemate between the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate on increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates.

The Iowa House has proposed $10 million increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates for “Mental Health Therapy” and “Substance Abuse.” (This would be the state’s portion – the federal portion of Medicaid reimbursement rates is 63.13%, so that $10 million would become a nearly $30 million increase.)

We have heard from multiple sources that the Iowa Senate does not feel the need to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates.

If you have time for ONE contact, please reach out to Senate HHS Budget subcommittee chair

Senator Mark Costello

(712) 520-0303 (call or text)

[email protected]

The ask

Ask him to accept the House proposal and allocate $10 million to increase mental health therapy and substance use disorder services reimbursement rates.

Talking points

If you are a Medicaid provider, tell him how this would help you and your clients.

If you are not a Medicaid provider, tell him why not (if that makes sense for the services you provide)

Even if the Iowa reimbursement rate for masters level professionals for the CPT Code 90837 (individual psychotherapy, 60 minutes) were to increase to 85% of the Medicare rate to $116.41, the rate would be still be lower than South Dakota’s ($121.88), Minnesota’s ($122.24), and Nebraska’s ($145.80). *

Access to mental health services and substance use disorder treatment is not simply a personal health care issue. It is also an educational issue and a workforce issue (and therefore an economic development issue).

Medicaid rates for mental health services have not been raised since 2014.

Congress Could Make Waiting Lists For Disability Services A Thing Of The Past A proposal in Congress would do away with Medicaid's institutional bias and guarantee people with developmental disabilities access to services in the community.

BREAKING: Congress just introduced a new bill that'd mark a historic investment in aging and disability care to END waiting lists. The new Home and Community-Based Services Access Act (HAA) is SUCH an important bill for all our electeds to know about!

These meetings are the best way to make an impact on your own personal Medicaid experience, as well as helping everyone else having the same issues that you are. I HIGHLY recommend that you attend this and subsequent meetings. It's an incredibly direct, convenient way to advocate for yourself and others. So take the opportunity!

Our first member town hall of the month is tonight.📣 We hope to see you there! If you haven’t had time to register yet, sign up at https://hhs.iowa.gov/ime/about/advisory-groups/townhall.

Meeting today at noon! Discuss where legislation is at and what we can still do to .
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88159420419?pwd=OWxjQnROQ1dxYjNuZ0RkNTUwK1E2QT09

Meeting ID: 881 5942 0419
Passcode: 065068

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

UPCOMING CAPITOL CHATS
https://www.iowaddcouncil.org/capitol-chats

The next Capitol Chat is coming up on Friday, February 24th 11 AM. We hope you'll join along with the Iowa DD Council! This is a great way to get expert advice, listen to special guests, and find out what’s happening at the Capitol.

February 24 at 11:00 AM | REGISTER HERE: https://capture.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIlcu6tqzMoHtKysYt5MNLhm8AGUuVYjDbd

March 31 at 11:00 AM | REGISTER HERE: https://capture.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtdeiprzkqGteK0Pkf-Z6FGru0X00hHipg

April 28 at 11:00 AM | REGISTER HERE: https://capture.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ocuCtqjovEtJReS3cuyea7Ve2V8GPc7Sp

Supporting this bill would benefit many ID Waiver members.
HF 275 is the new number for the bill that replaces the $5,727 lifetime limit on HCBS/ID Waiver home/vehicle modifications with a $6,872 annual cap. It's ready for House debate, and safe from the March 3 funnel.
NEWS FLASH! The state says this change will only cost $500,000 next year, and just under $700,000 the following year. That's not a lot of money when you consider the size of the Medicaid budget. This change will help keep people in their own homes and communities.

Iowa Medicaid
February 16, 2023

Registration Now Open for February 21 Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) Stakeholder Session

Thank you for participating in our first EVV Stakeholder Session last month. This email is to let you know sign up is now available for the February 21, 2023 EVV Stakeholder Session. After registering, a link to join the meeting will be sent to you the day of the meeting. If for some reason you do not receive this email, you can join the session by clicking the Join Meeting link on the EVV Meetings & Trainings webpage.

Register here: https://www.tfaforms.com/5046541

If you are part of UnityPoint, please email [email protected] with your intent to attend.

Thank you,

The EVV Team

There is still time to register for today’s Medicaid Town Hall at 4:00 going over the Iowa Health and Humans Services
Community-Based
Services Evaluation
https://www.tfaforms.com/5038872

www.tfaforms.com

Register for tomorrow's DHHS Medicaid Town Hall discussing the Community-Based Services Evaluation Report. https://www.tfaforms.com/5038872

www.tfaforms.com

Here is a great video on the Department of Justice investigations in Iowa and where things stand. Thank you Iowa APSE!

Video Release: Liberty and Justice for All - Iowa APSE Video Release: Liberty and Justice for All. Learn & advocate on the DOJ Consent Decree & Report!

Reminder of our meeting at noon today!

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

People say we cannot afford to care. We say we can't afford not to care.

Sign the petition to urge Congress to address the care crisis immediately: https://go.caringacross.org/a/careforall

Webinar on HCBS Waiver and Participant-Centered Service Planning and Delivery | ACL Administration for Community Living February 6, 2023 Tuesday, February 21, 2023 | 3:00-5:00 PM ET ACL invites you to a webinar in our series on strengthening advocacy in the Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Settings Rule, "Getting the Services You Need from the Waiver: The Participant-Centered Service Planning and Service Del...

We're trying a new day/time to see if more folks can join us! This Wednesday at 12:00. Will get a briefing from Kyle on his meeting with Liz Matney and more.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88159420419?pwd=OWxjQnROQ1dxYjNuZ0RkNTUwK1E2QT09

Meeting ID: 881 5942 0419
Passcode: 065068

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Join us! Discussing meeting time, sharing resources and making a great plan!

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Meeting tomorrow night (Thursday) at 7pm. Will be discussing what day/time to have meetings and what we'd like to do this year. Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88159420419?pwd=OWxjQnROQ1dxYjNuZ0RkNTUwK1E2QT09

Meeting ID: 881 5942 0419
Passcode: 065068

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Want to stay informed on HCBS/LTSS, Medicaid and more? Sign up to get our newsletter. https://actionnetwork.org/forms/become-an-agent-of-change-with-upgrademedicaid?clear_id=true

Become an Agent of Change with #UpgradeMedicaid Policy change is hard, time consuming, and it’s easy for people to feel alone in their efforts. Individuals who rely on Long Term Support Services (LTSS) through Medicaid are struggling to access a basic level of care to stay in their homes. Caregivers who provide support for independent living ar...

Meeting at 7 pm tonight (Thursday).
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88159420419?pwd=OWxjQnROQ1dxYjNuZ0RkNTUwK1E2QT09

Meeting ID: 881 5942 0419
Passcode: 065068

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...