August 5, 2024 - Stakeholder Update
Top News
DHCS Releases Quarterly Implementation Report on Enhanced Care Management (ECM) and Community Supports
On August 2, DHCS released the latest ECM and Community Supports
Quarterly Implementation Report, which includes data from January 2022 through December 2023. The report shows an increase in the availability and use of Community Supports, showing significant growth in the number of counties offering these services. As of January 2024, 19 counties across California offered all 14 Community Supports, and all counties offered at least eight Community Supports. This marks a significant increase from the end of 2022, when only three counties offered all 14 Community Supports. About 140,000 unique Medi-Cal members used Community Supports in the first two years of the program, with more than 350,000 total services delivered. In Quarter (Q)4 2023, about 86,000 members used Community Supports, a 265 percent increase from Q4 2022.
ECM participation also grew, with around 96,000 members served in Q4 2023, a 40 percent increase from Q4 2022. The number of members under age 21 receiving ECM nearly doubled in Q4 2023 from the previous quarter, from 6,400 members to 12,000, many of whom were newly eligible for ECM in July 2023. Altogether, more than 183,000 Medi-Cal members across the state received ECM in the first two years of the benefit.
ECM and Community Supports aim to improve Medi-Cal members' overall health and well-being by addressing both medical and social factors that can impact a person's health, including housing assistance, meal programs, job training, and centralized coordination of care.
To learn more, visit the
ECM/Community Supports Resources webpage. For inquiries related to the report or to provide feedback on the data, please email
CalAIMECMILOS@dhcs.ca.gov.
Program Updates
CalAIM Justice-Involved Initiative Learning Collaborative Series
On August 22, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. PDT, DHCS will launch a new virtual learning collaborative series for justice-involved initiative implementation partners to discuss the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) waiver requirements, share best practices and lessons learned, and ensure all partners are on the right track. The meeting registration link will be emailed to implementation partners in each county. The sessions will be recorded and posted on the
DHCS Justice-Involved Initiative webpage.
The sessions will focus on county readiness and implementation strategies and will include such topics as the justice-involved screening portal, short-term care model, covered services, billing and claiming, ECM, warm hand-offs, auto-assignments, and pharmacy policy. The session will include facilitated breakout discussions for correctional facilities, county partners, and Medi-Cal managed care plans to work collaboratively on regional implementation efforts. In the week following each session, DHCS will host office hours to provide an open forum and answer any outstanding questions from the prior week.
The primary learning collaborative audience is county adult jails (Sheriff's Office staff and correctional health care services partners); county youth correctional facilities (probation staff and associated correctional health care services providers); managed care plans; county behavioral health agencies; and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. DHCS also encourages county partners to invite ECM providers and reentry providers, as well as any other key implementation partners, to the sessions. For more information, email DHCS at
CalAIMJusticeAdvisoryGroup@dhcs.ca.gov.
Medi-Cal Adult Expansion Datasets
On August 1, DHCS published age 26-49 adult expansion population
datasets for the January 2024, February 2024, March 2024, and April 2024 months of eligibility on the California Health & Human Services Agency Open Data Portal. The datasets include the monthly count of individuals 26-49 years of age, by county, receiving full scope Medi-Cal benefits because of the age 26-49 adult expansion. The counts reflect the total number of eligible individuals enrolled during the month. The datasets also include total counts for ethnicity, written language, and spoken language, by county, reported by members. DHCS will publish ongoing datasets monthly.
Join Our Team
DHCS is seeking highly-skilled, exceptionally motivated individuals to serve as:
DHCS is also hiring for its human resources, auditing, health policy, information technology, and other teams. For more information, please visit the
CalCareers website.
Upcoming Stakeholder Meetings and Webinars
DHCS Medi-Cal Dental Stakeholder Meeting
On August 9, from 1 to 3 p.m. PDT, DHCS will host the Medi-Cal Dental Statewide Stakeholder meeting. DHCS will share updates and information about new and upcoming activities. The meeting also provides dental stakeholders with a forum to share input with the Medi-Cal Dental team that can help improve the delivery of oral health care services.
The meeting information will be posted on the
Dental Statewide Stakeholder Meetings webpage. Additional materials will be posted on the webpage prior to the meeting or as soon as they become available. Please email your questions to
dental@dhcs.ca.gov.
Hearing Aid Coverage for Children Program (HACCP) Webinar for Medical Providers and Hearing Professionals
On August 15, from 12 to 1 p.m. PDT, DHCS will host its quarterly HACCP webinar for medical providers and hearing professionals. For more information and to
pre-register, please visit DHCS'
HACCP webpage.
In Case You Missed It
California Awards Counties Nearly $133 Million to Rapidly House People Experiencing Homelessness and Mental Illness
DHCS
awarded $132.5 million to 10 county behavioral health agencies under the Behavioral Health Bridge Housing (BHBH) Program. This funding enables counties to provide temporary, safe housing and essential support for people transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing. Bridge housing is a crucial component of addressing the urgent needs of Californians experiencing homelessness who have serious mental health or substance use disorder treatment needs.
These awards, which build upon the more than $900 million already awarded to counties and tribal entities in 2022, will significantly enhance local efforts to provide immediate housing and support for individuals with serious behavioral health conditions by bolstering the development of tiny homes, interim housing, rental assistance programs, and other housing models, which will include access to behavioral health and housing navigation services to connect BHBH Program participants to long-term housing. For more information, please visit the
BHBH Program website.
