Will Humble Early Childhood, State Legislature, Wills Blog

Governor’s Proposed Budget

The Governor released his proposed FY19-20 budget late last week.  It’s over 500 pages long – but we went through and looked for important items that relate to public health and or social determinants.  Here’s a quick summary.

Kids Care Funding

Happily, the Governor’s budget includes the needed funding to continue our Kids Care program after the federal contribution goes below 100% on October 1, 2019.  KidsCare provides insurance for more than 30,000 children in families with incomes above the limit for Medicaid eligibility but below 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL). Families with children who are insured through KidsCare pay premiums that vary with family size and income from $10 to $70 per month.  Of course- this still needs to work its way through the legislature but it sure is encouraging to see it in the Governor’s budget.

Telemedicine Services for Prenatal Services

The Governor’s proposed budget includes $500K in one-time funding for telemedicine and sonogram equipment to help rural hospitals that lack adequate access to prenatal providers to provide care to expectant mothers. The initiative will allow rural hospitals to buy telemedicine and sonogram equipment and enhance their ability to reach out to urban partners for assistance when providing prenatal care to expectant mothers, reducing the need to travel.  An additional $500K is proposed in one-time funding to provide student loan repayment options for health care professionals who provide prenatal care in one of the designated rural areas.

 

Child Care Subsidies

The federal government is offering Arizona $56M in funding to provide child care subsidies in Arizona.  Last year Arizona did not request this funding- in part because the state legislature did not appropriate these federal funds.  The Governor’s budget this year asks the legislature to appropriate the funds to increase the child care subsidy rate and to serve children on the waitlist.

The program serves three client categories: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Transitional Child Care (TCC), and Low-Income Working (LIW). LIW has a waiting list and limits eligibility to low-income families who are working, teen parents in high school or GED classes, or residents of homeless or domestic violence shelters.

The proposed funding will serve approximately 400 children per month from the waitlist and increase the average child care subsidy rate from $365 per month to $438 per month.

Oral Health Coverage During Pregnancy

There’s no mention of the money that would be needed to cover the state portion of  providing comprehensive oral health services for pregnant Medicaid members- but that’s OK.  As you see below there is a bill that would accomplish that goal.

Will Humble American Indians, Behavioral Health, Medicaid, Wills Blog

CMS Approves Work Requirement/Community Engagement & Prior Quarter Coverage Elimination Waivers; Denies 5-Year Eligibility Limit

Last week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved Arizona’s request to include work requirements and/or community engagement and reporting requirements as a condition of Medicaid enrollment beginning on January 1, 2020.  CMS also approved the request to eliminate prior quarter coverage eligibility effective April 1, 2019.  An accompanying directed waiver request to limit lifetime Medicaid eligibility to 5 years for “able-bodied adults” was denied by CMS. 

CMS’ Letter to Director Snyder is 18 pages long and contains conditions and details- so refer to that letter for the nuts and bolts of what they said.

The work requirement/community engagement Waiver request was filed many months ago and is mandated by Senate Bill 1092 (from 2015) which requires AHCCCS to ask CMS’ permission to implement new eligibility requirements for “able-bodied adults”. 

The program will require some “able-bodied” members between the ages of 19 to 49 years-old to participate in community engagement activities for at least 80 hours per month and report their activities monthly.  Activities can include employment, including self-employment; less than full-time education; job or life skills training; job search activities; and community service.

A member who fails to comply in any given month will be suspended from AHCCCS coverage for 2-months but automatically reinstated after that. Members won’t be terminated for failing to comply.

The people exempted from the requirements include:

  • Pregnant women up to the 60th day post-pregnancy

  • Former Arizona foster youth up to age 26

  • Members of federally recognized tribes

  • Designated caretakers of a child under age 18

  • Caregivers who are responsible for the care of an individual with a disability

  • Members determined to have a serious mental illness (SMI)

  • Members who are “medically frail”

  • Members who have an acute medical condition

  • Members who are in active treatment for a substance use disorder

  • Members with a disability recognized under federal law and individuals receiving long term disability benefits

  • Full-time high school, college, or trade school students

  • Survivors of domestic violence

  • People who are homeless

  • People who receive assistance through SNAP, Cash Assistance or Unemployment Insurance or who participate in another AHCCCS-approved work program

Many things need to happen before the January 1, 2020 start date.  We’re hopeful that a robust evaluation component will be included in the program so that adjustments can be made to the policy over time and so that other states can learn from the Arizona experiment.

Will Humble Public Health, Public Health Law, State Legislature, Wills Blog

Public Health Bills So Far

There aren’t very many public health related bills proposed yet, but they’re on the way.  Here’s what we have so far:

SB 1009 Electronic Cigarettes, Tobacco Sales

Expands the definition of tobacco products to include e-cigarettes. Among other things, it’ll make it clear that it’s illegal to sell e-cigarettes to minors. The penalty for selling to minors remains at $5K. 

HB 2024 Electronic Cigarettes. Smoke Free Arizona Act

Includes e-cigarettes in the definition of tobacco products and smoking for the purposes of the Smoke Free Arizona Act.  Because the Act was voter approved- this modification to the law will require a 3/4 majority of both houses. 

SB 1040 Maternal Mortality Report

This bill would require the Child Fatality Review Team subcommittee on maternal mortality to compile an annual statistical report on the incidence and causes of “severe maternal morbidity” with recommendations for action.  The current law requires a review of the data but no report.

Will Humble Public Health Law, State Legislature, Wills Blog

The 2019 Legislative Session Underway 

This year’s state legislative session began on Monday.  Here’s a PowerPoint with our 2019 Legislative Priorities.  Like other years, lots of things will come up during the session that we will support or be opposed to.  Our Public Health Policy Committee will share information and meet during the session as we prepare our positions and conduct our public health advocacy.

The party balance in the Senate will remain 17-13 while the balance in the House will be 31-29 (a much closer party balance than there has been in recent years).

The President of the Senate will be  Karen Fann (R) LD-1 and House Speaker will be  Rusty Bowers (R) LD-25.   The Senate Health and Human Service Committee will be chaired by Senator Kate Brophy-McGee (Sen. Heather Carter will be Co-chair).  The House Health Committee will be chaired by Representative Nancy Barto (Rep. Jay Lawrence is Vice Chair)

Senate Health & Human Services Committee

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee will meet this Session on Wednesday mornings at 9 am in Senate Hearing Room #1.  The Chair will be Senator Kate Brophy McGee with Senator Heather Carter as the Vice Chair.  Other committee members will be Tyler Pace, Rick Gray, Sylvia Allen, Rebecca Rios, Tony Navarette, and Victoria Steel.

House Health & Human Services Committee

The House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee will meet this Session on Thursday mornings at 9 am.  The Chair will be Rep. Nancy Barto with Jay Lawrence serving as Vice Chair.  Other members are Representatives John Allen, Gail Griffin, Becky Nutt, Kelli Butler, Pamela Powers-Hannley, Alma Hernandez and Amish Shah.

Will Humble Medicaid, Public Health Law, State Legislature, Wills Blog

Intermediate Care Facilities Like Hacienda de los Angeles are Exempt from State Licensing Requirements

By now you’ve heard the disturbing story of a 29-year-old resident of Hacienda de los Angeles who gave birth a couple of weeks ago. What’s troubling about the birth is that the mother was unable to give consent because of the nature of her medical condition. In short, it means she was raped and delivered a baby while under the care of Hacienda de los Angeles.

Quite honestly, it’s astonishing that the facility and its staff apparently failed to detect – or report — the sexual assault or pregnancy until after the baby was born and in medical distress.  Arizona law (ARS 46-464) requires people that have responsibility to care for a vulnerable adult to report any abuse or neglect that they suspect.  Failure to report is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

With such resources now deployed with the various investigations including the Phoenix Police Department, we will eventually most likely learn whether Hacienda staff knew but did not report the pregnancy or whether the care being provided was such that staff did not discover the pregnancy until the woman gave birth.  

Arizona and local law enforcement officials are investigating the matter – but they may be impeded by this troubling fact: Hacienda de los Angeles isn’t required to have a state license (and doesn’t have one).

How is this possible?

Hacienda de los Angeles is classified as an intermediate care for persons with intellectual disabilities. Facilities in this class provide more intensive services than a residential group home for persons with intellectual disabilities but different services than a skilled nursing facility.

When I learned through the media of the assault and birth, I went to the ADHS’ AZ Care Check    website to look at the regulatory compliance record for the facility. I was puzzled when I discovered that the facility didn’t have an ADHS License number. They have an identifying number for their Certification to get paid by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) — but no state license.

In digging deeper- I discovered that this class of facility doesn’t require a license from the ADHS.  They are specifically exempt. The exact statutory language is located in ARS 36-591(E) where it states that: “An intermediate care facility for persons with an intellectual disability that is operated by the division or a private entity is not required to be licensed under this section if the facility is certified pursuant to 42 Code of Federal Regulations section 483.400”.

That’s not to say that there’s no oversight of the facility.  There is. ADHS has conducted annual certification inspections under a contract from CMS every year for the last several years, and you can see that there are several deficiencies that have been identified (and corrected) over time.

What’s problematic is that the state has no direct regulatory authority over the facility because they’re not required to have a state license (if they’re CMS certified).  That means there’s no direct mechanism to compel compliance with state care regulations – because there’s no license to suspend, put on provisional status, or to revoke. 

With information that will be discovered in the coming days and weeks, the federal government could elect to decertify the facility and to no longer pay for services provided there, and/or our state Medicaid agency could decide to no longer approve placement of their members at the facility- but the state has no direct authority to compel compliance — again, because there’s no state license to use as leverage to compel compliance with state licensing requirements.

Intermediate care facilities were exempt from state licensing requirements back in 1997 when HB 2247 was passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Hull.

Perhaps this case provides an opportunity for our state elected officials to re-examine the wisdom of exempting intermediate care facilities from having a state license.

Will Humble Family Planning, Federal Public Health Bud, Maternal Health, Prevention, Wills Blog

New Funding Opportunity Available for Arizona to Explore Strategies to Reduce Maternal Mortality

A couple of months ago (before the government shutdown happened) landmark federal legislation was passed and signed that will provide millions of dollars to help states determine why women are dying from pregnancy and childbirth at troubling rates.  

The new funding is great news because studies have found that at least half of childbirth-related deaths could have been prevented if health care providers had followed best medical practices to ensure complications were diagnosed and treated quickly and effectively.

The bill provides $12M in annual funding to the CDC to pass through to states with maternal mortality review committees and create committees in the 12 states that lack them.  Arizona has a committee in statute because of a law signed in 2011 – here’s a link to the most recent report.

In order to qualify for funding, states need to demonstrate  that their “methods and processes for data collection and review use best practices to reliably determine and include all pregnancy-associated deaths and pregnancy-related deaths, regardless of the outcome of the pregnancy.” All indications are that the ADHS meets these CDC data standards and therefore would qualify for funding.

We and the Arizona Chapter of the March of Dimes will keep an eye out for the grant announcement and offer any assistance that the ADHS needs with their application for this important funding opportunity that can be used to save the lives of Arizona moms.

Will Humble Affordable Care Act, Family Planning, Federal Public Health Bud, Maternal Health, Medicaid, Wills Blog

Maternal Mortality: A Tragic Trend Continues in the US and AZ

The US has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed country.  Sadly, it’s getting worse each year.  About 800 American women die and 65,000 almost die during pregnancy or childbirth.

The number of deaths in AZ jumped from around 10 in 2015 to about 30 in 2016 (the last year for which ADHS has data posted). The numbers are rounded for statistical reasons (called cell suppression in the public health statistics trade.)

Nationally, back women die from pregnancy-related causes at three to four times the rate of white women, even after controlling for social determinants. Women in rural areas also have higher maternal mortality rates than urban women.  Here’s a story that highlights some of the issues in an easy to read way.

Fortunately, there are public health policy leverage points that can make a difference within state health departments and Medicaid agencies.  Medicaid is a leverage point because it pays for over half of all births each year in 25 states including Arizona.  

All states provide Medicaid coverage for women with incomes up to 133% of poverty during pregnancy and for 60 days after delivery.  But the scope of services covered before and after delivery vary between states.  As a result, some women lose coverage or Medicaid eligibility in certain states after that 60-day period (mostly in states without Medicaid expansion).

In Medicaid expansion states (like AZ) women have more opportunities to achieve better preconception health because they’re more likely to be able to access contraception and plan their pregnancies, receive primary care services to manage chronic conditions prior to and between pregnancies and access prenatal and perinatal care once pregnant.

Evidence-based policy making is a key.  Twenty-nine states (including Arizona) have committees that review maternal deaths and make public policy recommendations.  Back in 2011, Arizona passed, and the Governor signed a bill that amended our child fatality review statutes by adding reviews of maternal deaths.

The statute charges our existing Child Fatality State Teams to review maternal deaths (called the Maternal Mortality Review Subcommittee) and make policy recommendations. The primary goal is to identify preventive factors and make recommendations for systems change. The existing statute doesn’t require an annual report- and the last report was published in 2017. Note: we’ve heard that there may be a Bill this session that will require an annual report of the committee’s work.

Here are some of the recommendations from the most recent ADHS report (published in 2017):

  • All pregnant women should have access to prenatal care;

  • Encourage maternal care professionals, organizations, and health facilities to update their standards of practice and care to include all recommended guidelines for the prevention of medical complications;

  • Promote public awareness of the importance of healthy behaviors and women’s overall health prior to pregnancy;

  • Women should always wear proper restraints when riding in cars;

  • Maternal health-care systems require strengthened, prepared, and educated communities to improve deliveries in health facilities, particularly in rural areas;

  • Increase and streamline access to behavioral health services statewide, including training and education for advanced practice nurses in behavioral health services;

  • Support and implement community suicide prevention and awareness programs, such as Mental Health First Aid;

  • Health care providers should screen frequently for perinatal depression and domestic violence;

  • Institute and follow recommended California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative guidelines (www.cmqcc.org) for the timely transfer and transport to a higher-level care facility for any complications using regional transport services; and 

  • Educate providers on the availability of maternal postpartum resources such as home visiting programs.

Some states have gone further. For example, South Carolina’s Medicaid agency formed the South Carolina Birth Outcomes Initiative to advance reductions in early elective deliveries; incentivize Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment; promote long-acting reversible contraception; and support vaginal births.  One outcome of the SC initiative was to reimburse for long-acting birth control (LARC) devices provided in a hospital setting. 

Fortunately, Arizona has also included LARC reimbursement in a hospital setting post-partum.  This is an important policy intervention because it provides women with a long-acting and reversible option, so they can better plan future pregnancies – improving opportunities for preconception health, which is a key to improving health outcomes.

Will Humble Medicaid, Social Determinants, Wills Blog

The Intersection of Public Health and Housing

Affordable, safe, and stable housing directly impacts an individual’s health and well-being and improves people’s ability to manage chronic diseases and mental conditions, access education and employment, and build healthy relationships.  Persons that are homeless face illness at three to six times the rate of housed individuals and are three to four times more likely to prematurely die than the general population.

Ensuring that patients have stable housing can also reduce healthcare costs.  An analysis of Oregon Medicaid claims data found people placed in stable and affordable housing reduced their overall Medicaid expenditures by 12%. Housing placement also correlated with a 20% increase in primary care visits and an 18% decrease in emergency department visitations among Oregon Medicaid members. 

It’s no surprise then that hospitals and health systems are increasingly interested in supporting access to stable and quality housing as a strategy to reduce downstream healthcare spending, especially as they move toward value-based payment models.

CMS is catching on too.  A couple of years ago they released a bulletin emphasizing the importance of designing Medicaid benefits packages that incorporate the social determinants of health. They outlined allowable coverage of housing-related activities and services for individuals with disabilities and older adults requiring long-term services and supports, like conducting individual tenant housing assessments, assisting with the housing search and application process, or offering tenancy sustaining services.

Last month the HHS Secretary suggested that CMS will be introducing a payment model allowing hospitals to directly pay for housing and other social services using federal Medicaid dollars. The statement suggests that this shift stems from a broader interest in better alignment between health and human services and that such a model would be tested by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI).

While direct spending on room and board still isn’t allowed under the Medicaid statute, several state Medicaid programs are pursuing demonstration waivers that allow for innovations or flexibilities in Medicaid-managed care programs to address housing needs or other social determinants of health.

North Carolina recently received approval of its Section 1115 waiver which will allow their Medicaid managed care contractors to cover evidence-based, non-medical interventions that have a direct impact on members health outcomes and costs. The pilots will be implemented regionally to address housing, food security, transportation, employment, and interpersonal safety. I think North Carolina is the first state to receive this type of waiver, but I’m not 100% sure about that.

CMMI is also exploring the impact of screening and referrals for health-related social needs (including housing) of Medicaid and Medicare dual beneficiaries. They’ll be measuring whether screenings and referrals to community-based organizations and social services generate improvements in health outcomes and reductions in healthcare spending. The model is being piloted through 31 organizations in 23 states including at AHCCCS.

Will Humble Federal Budget, Federal Public Health Bud, Public Health, Public Health Law, Return on Investment, Social Determinants, Wills Blog

‘Opportunity Zones’ & Public Health

When you think about the tax bill passed by congress last year you probably think about the permanent reduction in corporate tax rates and changes in the person income tax standard deductions and stuff like that.  But there was a sleeper provision in the law that could influence the built environment and therefore public health.  It’s a provision in the law called ‘Opportunity Zone’ investment tax deferment.

The ‘Opportunity Zones’ part of the new tax law provides incentives to investors to put their money into areas designated by states as low income or underdeveloped.  The law lets investors defer (or eliminate) their capital gains tax obligation when they invest the money in a designated ‘Opportunity Zone’. If they hold the investment for 7 years, 15% of their capital gains liability can be written off.  If they hold the investment for 10 years, then their entire capital gain tax liability can be written off.

The theory is that geographically targeted tax cut opportunities will encourage new clusters of economic activity to form which has the potential to improve conditions that influence the social determinants of health within the designated ‘Opportunity Zones’.

There are very few conditions that are put on the program in terms of what is a qualifying investment, except that the investment must be within a state designated Opportunity Zone.  Developers must make a substantial improvement on the property in the first 30 months.  Investors need to show that 70% of their capital is in the opportunity zone and 50% of their activities.

The governor of each state decides where the Opportunity Zones are (they can name 25% of the qualifying low-income Census tracts as Opportunity Zones).  Our Governor delegated that decision to the Arizona Commerce Authority.  Arizona’s Opportunity Zone nominations were submitted to the US Treasury Department a few months ago and have already been approved.  Here’s the map of the Opportunity Zones Arizona selected.

A couple of months ago the U.S. Department of the Treasury released their guidance on the Opportunity Zone tax law provisions.  The Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations in October. 

The AZ Commerce Authority has some material on their website with a more in-depth view of Opportunity Zones including a Guidance Update Webinar Presentation and an Opportunity Funds Guidance Update Webinar Video October 2018.

One thing is clear- the incentives built into the Opportunity Zone parts of the tax bill are huge- and there will be billions of dollars moving into these Opportunity Zones in the coming years.  What remains to be seen is what impact the program will have on the built environment and economic opportunities in these areas and what public health impacts will occur – both good and bad – as a result of the investments that are made in these communities. 

Very few guardrails exist for what kinds of developments qualify for the tax deferral- and no doubt there will be some good things (affordable housing) and bad things (investments that don’t improve conditions) in Opportunity Zone communities in the coming years.

Will Humble Medicaid, Wills Blog

Jami Snyder Appointed AHCCCS Director

Jami Snyder was appointed to the post of the Director of AHCCCS effective this Friday.  She has been serving as the as deputy director of AHCCCS since December of 2017. Prior to that she was the Medicaid Director in Texas and as Chief Operating Officer of the University of Arizona Health Plans. She also previously held posts as  a Bureau Chief at the Arizona Department of Health Services. 

Jami is a 2013 Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Academy Fellow, and graduated with a BS in political science from Gustavus Adolphus College and went on to earn a master’s degree in political science from ASU.

I really think Jami is a terrific choice for this important job. She has a good reputation in the public health world and is known as somebody that understands the linkages that public health and health care can forge in designing and implementing interventions that improve public health outcomes while reducing costs.

Congratulations Director Snyder! 

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