Community HealthChoices Timeline Update

From: DHS STAKEHOLDERS – On Behalf Of HS, Secretary’s Office
Sent: Monday, November 06, 2017 12:00 PM
Subject: [DHS-STAKEHOLDERS] Community HealthChoices Update

The Wolf Administration is committed to providing access to high-quality services to all Pennsylvanians and to serving more people in the community.

Community HealthChoices (CHC) is the commonwealth’s program for older Pennsylvanians and individuals with physical disabilities to use health plans to provide coordinated physical health care and long-term services and supports. The goals of CHC are to improve quality of services and the health care experience – serving more people in their communities rather than in facilities, giving them the opportunity to work, spend more time with their families, and experience an overall better quality of life.

CHC is being implemented in three phases. For Phase 1, notices have been mailed to participants in the 14 counties in the Southwest Zone to inform them that they will move to CHC on January 1, 2018. Participants are currently learning more about CHC through community meetings and the independent enrollment broker. Phase 1 is expected to include approximately 80,000 people.

CHC is about choice – choice in where a person wants to live and choice in who will provide the care needed to make that a reality. Even though the deadline for Phase 1 participants to select a managed care organization (MCO) is not until November 13, 2017, more than 21,500 people have already made an active choice by already selecting their health plan and their primary care provider.

Recognizing how critical these services are, we are focused on getting this right – the health care coverage for 420,000 Pennsylvanians depends on it.

We are confident that the southwest is ready for Phase 1, but in order to allow for the deliberate and purposeful implementation of CHC in the southeast region (Phase 2) and the remainder of the state (Phase 3) we need to have the flexibility of learning from that roll out with proper time to make any needed adjustments.

Given this, the commonwealth has decided to shift the implementation dates for the next two phases of CHC. The new start dates are as follows:

• Phase 2 will now begin on January 1, 2019, instead of July 1, 2018
• Phase 3 will now begin on January 1, 2020, instead of January 1, 2019

These new dates will allow us to provide Pennsylvanians eligible for CHC with a health plan that will give them better access to health care. Our commitment to CHC is unwavering and we look forward to continuing to work with you in preparation for January 2018’s Phase 1 rollout.

Regards,
Teresa Miller
Department of Human Services, Acting Secretary

Teresa Osborne
Department of Aging, Secretary