​​DHCS Stakeholder News - February 10, 2023​

Top News

DHCS Launches Medi-Cal Renewal Campaign

On February 8, DHCS launched a statewide media campaign to raise awareness about the upcoming Medi-Cal renewal process and to encourage Medi-Cal members to take steps to keep their coverage. The campaign is targeted to California's more than 15 million Medi-Cal members who had their redeterminations on hold during the COVID-19 public health emergency due to the federal continuous coverage requirement.

The media campaign will run February 2023 through June 2024, and includes a mix of traditional and digital media formats to reach low-income households in all 19 Medi-Cal threshold languages—including radio, digital and social media advertising, out-of-home placements, such as billboards and public transit signage, direct mail and text messaging. DHCS also launched a member facing landing page, KeepMediCalCoverage.org, where Medi-Cal members can find out about the renewal process and how to update their contact information to receive important updates. As part of this effort, DHCS will provide corresponding outreach materials, including flyers, one-page fact sheets, social media posts, messaging, and infographics to the DHCS Coverage Ambassadors and other partners to use.

Campaign resources are currently available on the DHCS continuous coverage unwinding webpage in English and Spanish and will be available in 17 additional languages in the next few weeks. Updated resources will be shared for ongoing use throughout the campaign.

Program Updates

DHCS Guidance on Carr v. Becerra

Today, DHCS issued county guidance via a Medi-Cal Eligibility Division Information Letter 23-07 to county social services agencies to immediately halt the movement of all Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) to another MSP through March 31, 2023. This is a result of a federal preliminary injunction (Carr v. Becerra) against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). As a result, CMS is reinstating its previous guidance that states are not allowed to move individuals between MSP programs when they changed eligibility conditions.

Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) Grant Funding Available

On February 9, as part of the CYBHI, DHCS released a Request for Application seeking proposals for the second round of grant funding totaling $100 million to scale up evidence-based and community-defined evidence practices (EBPs and CDEPs, respectively) across the state. For the second round of EBP/CDEP grant funding, DHCS seeks proposals from individuals, organizations, and agencies to scale trauma-informed programs and practices. Interested parties are encouraged to apply for funding using this application by April 10, 2023, at 5 p.m.

Additionally, DHCS developed a CYBHI EBP/CDEP Grant Strategy to highlight its overall strategy for scaling EBPs and CDEPs across multiple funding rounds. For more information, visit the CYBHI webpage.

Join Our Team 

DHCS is hiring! DHCS has an immediate opening for a new Chief Operating Officer for Programs. This senior executive position provides leadership and oversight for all aspects of three key areas of the Department's operations: Enterprise Data and Information Management, Enterprise Technology Services, and Program Operations.

DHCS is also hiring for our fiscal, human resources, legal, auditing, health policy, and information technology teams. For more information, please visit the CalCareers website.  

DHCS is dedicated to preserving and improving the overall health and well-being of all Californians. DHCS' mission is to provide the most vulnerable residents with equitable access to affordable, integrated, high-quality health care, and is currently transforming the Medi-Cal program to make sure it provides the care Californians need to live healthier, happier lives. 

Upcoming Stakeholder Meetings and Webinars

CYBHI Fee Schedule Workgroup Session 3  

On February 15, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., DHCS, in collaboration with the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC), will virtually host the third public CYBHI Fee Schedule Workgroup meeting (advance registration required) to inform the development of the statewide all-payer fee schedule for school-based behavioral health services under the CYBHI. DHCS and DMHC will engage workgroup members on a variety of policy and operational topics to inform the development and refinement of the program design. 

Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) and Behavioral Health Stakeholder Advisory Committee (BH-SAC) Meeting 

On February 16, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., DHCS will host the first SAC and BH-SAC hybrid meeting of 2023 (advance registration required). It will open as a joint meeting, with topics shared by SAC and BH-SAC. A BH-SAC-only meeting will be held after the joint meeting; there is no SAC-only meeting. Attendees can attend in person at The California Endowment, located at 1414 K Street in downtown Sacramento, or virtually. For more information, please visit the SAC and BH-SAC webpages. 

DHCS CalAIM Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) and Duals Integration Workgroup February Meeting

On February 23, from 10 to 11:30 a.m., DHCS will virtually host the CalAIM MLTSS and Duals Integration Workgroup meeting (advance registration required). This workgroup serves as a stakeholder collaboration hub for CalAIM MLTSS and integrated care for dual eligible members, and allows stakeholders to provide feedback and share information about policy, operations, and strategy for changes to Medicare and Medi-Cal.

Background materials, transcripts, and video recordings of the previous workgroup meetings, along with additional information about the workgroup, are posted on the CalAIM MLTSS and Duals Integration Workgroup webpage.

In Case You Missed It

Whole Person Care (WPC) Program Final Evaluation Report

On February 8, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research’s Health Economics and Evaluation Research Program released the final evaluation of the WPC pilot program. The evaluation findings describe a major and expansive effort in California to address the needs of the most vulnerable Medi-Cal members who were high utilizers of services. The report found that under WPC, members received more appropriate, timely, and successful connection to: primary care services, specialty services, mental health and substance use services, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations. Some of the findings include: 

• Member Health Outcomes: Evaluation findings support that member health outcomes improved as a result of WPC interventions. Data showed a reduction in primary care, an increase in specialty care, a decline in mental health care, and an increase in substance use treatment for enrollees overall vs. the control group. Subsequent changes in utilization during the program, including declines in primary care and mental health services, typically resulting from a change in need (e.g., issue(s) was/were addressed or condition(s) stabilized through initial visits), new needs were identified as a result of increased access to care (e.g., substance use disorder was diagnosed and treatment started), or care was transferred to a more appropriate setting (e.g., treatment transferred from primary care to specialty care). 

• ED and Inpatient Utilization (IPU): Compared to control groups, both ED and inpatient utilization rates declined for WPC enrollees. ED: The declining change from before to during WPC was significantly greater for WPC enrollees compared to the control group by 76 visits. IPU: Comparing the changes from before to during WPC, WPC enrollees declining rate was greater by 83 stays compared to controls.  
  

• Housing Stability: Pilots succeeded in enrolling mostly members who were experiencing homelessness, provided housing support services to them using innovative and effective approaches, and improved their outcomes. Many enrollees experiencing homelessness also had higher rates of behavioral health conditions, higher utilization of emergency departments, mental health and substance use services, therefore Pilots provided a higher intensity service utilization and focused on provision of permanent housing following the “housing first” approach. 

• Lower Costs: Evaluation findings show a reduction in overall costs of an estimated $99 per enrollee per year. For WPC enrollees, total estimated Medi-Cal payments were increasing by $2,037 per member per year before WPC, and then decreasing by $865 per year during WPC. The decline in overall costs was likely accomplished through a decline in outpatient services (primary care, specialty care, mental health, and substance use disorder services) and hospitalizations. These finding likely reflect the potential for savings when avoidable hospitalizations and outpatient services are reduced.

CalAIM Behavioral Health Administrative Integration Concept Paper Released for Public Comment and Webinar