Grants and Demonstrations

The ACA provides funding opportunities to transform how health care is delivered, expand access to care and support healthcare workforce training.

Grant Activity

Guidance

Read the Correcting Amendment at:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-11-06/pdf/2013-26579.pdf

Read the Final Rule at:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-03-11/pdf/2013-04902.pdf                 

11/5/13 HHS published a notice on a proposed information collection activity related to ACA outreach assistance provided by Title X grantees. The Office of Population Affairs within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health seeks to collect data from the Title X Family Planning grantees on efforts related to outreach and enrollment to assist individuals in obtaining health insurance available as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Grantees will be asked to collect and report information on the numbers of individuals who are; (1) Assisted by a trained health center worker; (2) number of individuals who receive an eligibility determination for the marketplace, Medicaid or CHIP with the assistance of a trained worker; and (3) number of individuals who enroll in an insurance program with the assistance of a trained worker. The information will be reported for all sites in their grantee network.

Comments on this proposed information collection are due by January 6, 2014.

Read the notice at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-11-05/pdf/2013-26401.pdf

11/1/13 HHS/CMS published a notice seeking comments on proposed information collection activities related to Marketplace Consumer Experience Surveys. ACA §1311(c)(4) requires HHS to develop an enrollee satisfaction survey (ESS) system that assesses consumer experience with qualified health plans (QHPs) offered through an Exchange. It also requires public display of enrollee satisfaction information by the Exchange to allow individuals to easily compare enrollee satisfaction levels between comparable plans. The HHS intends to establish two surveys that assess consumer experience with the Marketplaces and the QHPs offered through the Marketplaces. The surveys will include topics to assess consumer experience with the Marketplace such as enrollment and customer service, as well as experience with the health care system such as communication skills of providers and ease of access to health care services.

HHS is considering using the Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems (CAHPSR) principles for developing the surveys and has proposed an application and approval process for enrollee satisfaction survey vendors who want to participate in collecting ESS data. The Marketplace Survey will provide (1) Actionable information that the Marketplaces can use to improve performance, (2) information that CMS and state regulatory organizations can use for general oversight, and (3) a longitudinal database for future Marketplace research. The CAHPSR family of instruments does not have a survey that assesses entities similar to Marketplaces, so the Marketplace survey items were generated by the project team. The QHP Enrollee Experience survey will (1) help consumers choose among competing health plans, (2) provide actionable information that the QHPs can use to improve performance, (3) provide information that regulatory and accreditation organizations can use to regulate and accredit plans, and (4) provide a longitudinal database for consumer research. HHS plans to base the QHP survey on the CAHPSR Health Plan Survey.

Comments on this proposed information collection are due by December 2, 2013.

Read the notice (see item #2) at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-11-01/pdf/2013-26107.pdf

Prior guidance can be found at: http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/index.html

Commonwealth of MA News

MassHealth to hold One Care Q&A in Framingham

MassHealth representatives will be in Framingham on Friday, November 22 for a presentation and Q&A on One Care. One Care is a new option for people with disabilities who are 21-64 years old to get the full set of services provided by MassHealth and Medicare, including Medicare Part D. More information about this free community information session is below.

Date:                    Friday, November 22, 2013

Time:                    1:00-3:00 PM

Location:               Framingham Public Library, Costin Room
                            49 Lexington St., Framingham

American Sign Language interpreters and a CART Reporter will be present. Those who need language assistance to participate should email onecare@state.ma.us.