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Physical Disabilities & Aging

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2020

Harrisburg, PA – Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Teresa Miller today announced a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for the commonwealth to establish a resource and referral tool. The tool will serve as a care coordination system for providers such as health care and social services organizations and will include a closed-loop referral system that will report on the outcomes of the referrals. It will also serve as an access point to search and obtain meaningful information to help Pennsylvanians find and access the services they need to achieve overall well-being and improve health outcomes.

“No one person or provider can help a person fully address all of these goals on their own, and that is okay. We want to make sure that we are focused on how to promote a more holistic approach to health and well-being and that we are ensuring that individuals’ and families’ needs are met through the delivery of the right service at the right time,” said Sec. Miller. “With this resource and referral tool, we hope to establish a system where we can break down walls in the health care and social service system and improve health outcomes and quality of life for Pennsylvanians.”

The purpose of the RFEI is to determine what experienced firms are available to assist DHS and the commonwealth in executing the development and implementation of a statewide resource and referral tool within an aggressive timeframe. Interested parties should have relevant experience and proven success implementing projects of similar scope and working with a wide range of sectors including healthcare organizations, community-based organizations, and state and local government agencies.

The resource and referral tool, when implemented, will allow providers to assess an individual during a physician’s office or emergency department visit, or when receiving case management services, among others. The tool will also gather data that can help the Commonwealth and its partners better understand the needs of vulnerable Pennsylvanians and identify service gaps across the state. By looking at critical social determinants of health, including employment, childcare, transportation, food security, access to health care, and housing stability, the Commonwealth and all network organizations can help individuals achieve better long-term health outcomes and maximize the impact of health care dollars.

The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the urgent need for a customer-friendly system to assist the public in locating resources and to efficiently and effectively connect individuals with critical services such as food, housing, transportation and childcare, as well as many other needed critical services. This tool can provide an alternative to in-person interactions between social services organizations and clients in order to facilitate social distancing.

Individuals, service providers, government agencies, caregivers, educational institutions, faith-based groups, and advocates will be able to use this tool to help navigate the system of resources, and work together to reduce duplication of services as well as the time it takes for individuals to receive much-needed services. The tool will allow service providers to bridge the gaps that make service continuity and follow-up on referrals difficult.

“We all can help Pennsylvanians on a path to achieve better long-term health outcomes, meet their social determinant of health needs, and empower them towards economic self-sufficiency, and our hope is this tool will be a platform to make this possible,” said Sec. Miller. “Governor Wolf and this Administration is working to make sure individuals and families, particularly our most vulnerable, have a strong relationship with a person who can help them navigate across systems and organizations so they know that they are not alone on their path to a better life.”

For more information and to read the RFEI, visit eMarketplace.

MEDIA CONTACT: Erin James, ra-pwdhspressoffice@pa.gov

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From ANCOR:
Late last week, Politico Pro published and HHS later confirmed that providers who were left out of the latest Medicaid tranche from the provider relief fund will be getting another chance. While no official timeline has been finalized, Hill staff confirm that HHS is close to announcing more specifics.

The HHS spokesperson said any provider that missed the deadline will be able to apply. They will be eligible to receive 2 percent of their revenue from seeing patients. More guidance will be forthcoming, the spokesperson said.

See the Politico Pro article for more on what we know at this time.

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Stigma, Drugs and Policy: How Language Drives Change
Date: Thursday, July 9, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Stigma associated with substance use and addiction remains one of the biggest barriers to treatment for more than 20 million people in the U.S. How can we transform the way staff approach and deliver addiction care while fostering engagement among clients in recovery?

Join us Thursday, July 9, at 2 p.m. for “Stigma, Drugs and Policy: How Language Drives Change,” a webinar examining the application of resilience-oriented language principles to reduce barriers to recovery and improve service delivery. John Kelly, Ph.D., ABPP, Elizabeth R. Spallin professor of psychiatry in addiction medicine at Harvard Medical School, will guide us through strategies to shift the lens from stigma to affirming strengths-based approaches that you can adapt in your practice.

You will:

  • Understand the importance of language in treating substance use disorders (SUD).
  • Examine the evidence demonstrating the impact of stigmatizing language on the provision, quality and allocation of resources for SUD care.
  • Identify strategies for addressing stigma in policy and practice settings using non-stigmatizing language.
Register Today

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The Pennsylvania Department of Aging will host a Virtual Community Conversation on July 7, 2020, from Noon to 1:30 pm to discuss their State Plan on Aging for 2020–2024. During this virtual meeting, feedback is encouraged from the public and community stakeholders. The State Plan on Aging is designed to help Pennsylvania meet the objectives of the Older Americans Act and will be submitted to the Administration for Community Living (ACL) containing a vision and direction for Pennsylvania’s network of aging services. This plan is required to be submitted every four years, with this next plan due by October 1, 2020.

Individuals interested in participating can be an observer only or can make comments for up to two minutes on aging issues that are important to them. Questions can also be submitted on aging-related topics in advance and have them answered during the discussion by registering online.

Registration is required to participate via WebEx. If you choose to participate by phone, you must still register through the link to obtain your Attendee ID.

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Dear members,

I want to pass along a timely update about the Provider Relief Fund and our productive discussions with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to unlock those funds.

As many of you know, the National Council and 26 other leading behavioral health organizations sent a letter on June 18 to HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan calling for an additional distribution from the Provider Relief Fund, which was established by the CARES Act.

We got their attention.

Our letter prompted Deputy Secretary Hargan to hold a conference call on Tuesday, June 30, with the signatories to discuss the difficulties providers have had engaging with the Provider Relief Fund distribution portals and the negligible amount of financial resources providers have received. I’m happy to report that we had a productive discussion and changes are on the way – there will be a way for eligible health care providers to receive 2% of gross receipts from patient care.

That is a dramatic change that will help many National Council members, and HHS intends to make an announcement soon about this revision. We will also make sure you all know about the details of the programmatic changes as we receive those updates from HHS.

We arrived at this positive outcome after describing what all of you have gone through – the lost revenues, closures of programs and services, layoffs and furloughs. We described the confusion surrounding the various provider portals and association Provider Relief Fund distributions. We told HHS that providers are unsure when to apply for relief funds and which targeted distribution to apply for. We also explained that because Medicare represents only 5-7% of annual revenue for behavioral health providers, many providers believe their financial viability is better served by waiting for the Medicaid and CHIP distribution. We told HHS that providers did what they think is in the best interest of their practices, unaware that they will be prohibited from receiving funds from the Medicaid and CHIP targeted distribution.

Deputy Secretary Hargan described the intention of the previously released Provider Relief Fund distributions – to “true-up” both Medicare and Medicaid providers, and he acknowledged that a number of provider types have experienced the same issues and confusion in engaged the portals and accessing needed relief funds.

Perhaps most importantly, Deputy Secretary Hargan agreed that the behavioral health needs in our nation will continue and indicated that there will be a future “tranche” of monies dedicated to providers based on revenue lost as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that all providers have the ability to access 2% of gross receipts from patient care as a source of relief.

He also indicated that organizations that were unable to receive the full 2% from previous distributions will have preference in the next distribution of funding.

Finally, Deputy Secretary Hargan reinforced that the Medicaid and CHIP Targeted Distribution is still open (it is scheduled to close on July 20) and encouraged eligible organizations to apply.

I know it’s been difficult for all of you to since the pandemic began to wreak economic havoc on your practices, but I’m so happy to report that our efforts to outline those difficulties is finally paying off and help is on the way.

Thank you all so much and have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Chuck

Chuck Ingoglia Signature

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