ACAP Newsletter

February 3, 2006
 ACAP Newsletter

PUBLIC POLICY AND ADVOCACY

Congress Passes $40B Deficit Reduction Bill; President Will Sign
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Hudson Health Plan Creates Hudson Center
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EXCELLENCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

2006 Schedule of Roundtables Now Available
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Recap: CFO Roundtable
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Recap: CIO Roundtable
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Reminder: Quality/Disease Management Directors Roundtable
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Reminder: Provider Relations Roundtable
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Reminder: Policy Call
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NEWSFLASH

Cover Everybody Website
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Upcoming ACAP Calls
 Feb 9: ACAP QM Directors Roundtable
Feb 13, 2 pm: ACAP Policy Roundtable
Feb 14: ACAP Medicare Roundtable
Feb 16: ACAP Provider Relations Roundtable


Upcoming Events Calendar
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PUBLIC POLICY AND ADVOCACY

Congress Passes $40B Deficit Reduction Bill; President Will Sign

After a month-and-a-half delay, the Republican Leadership was finally able to pass the 2006 Deficit Reduction Act on February 1 on a squeaker vote of 216–214. The delay, forced by a procedural mechanism raised by the Senate Democrats in December, was an opportunity for opponents of the bill, including pharmacists, AARP, and consumer groups like FamiliesUSA, to mobilize their constituencies to oppose the bill. In the end, thirteen Republicans voted no, while four of those switched their votes from the original vote in December (Simmons [CT], Sweeney [NY], Gerlach [PA], and Ramstad [MN]), making for a tense vote for the Republican leadership.

The Congressional Budget Office sent a letter to John Spratt, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee outlining the impact of the legislation, including:
  • By 2015, 4.5 million children will be affected by higher cost sharing charges for services and 13 million people would face higher charges to access their health care services;
  • In addition, by 2015, 20 million people would face higher charges to prescription drugs. One third of those individuals affected by the drug cost sharing (6.6 million) would be children and half (10 million) would have incomes below the poverty level;
  • 65,000 fewer people would be enrolled in Medicaid due to new and much higher premiums for low-income populations in 2015, 60% of whom are children;
  • Savings of nearly $15 billion over 10 years are generated by reductions in benefits, cost-sharing increases, and new authority to allow denial of care to those who can't afford the increased cost-sharing requirements;
  • Benefit reductions would cut the value of health coverage by one third of what people have today -- most of the reductions would be for services like dental care, vision, and mental health; and
  • By 2015, 130,000 people a year will be denied Medicaid coverage for long term care at a point where they are destitute; more than lost access in either the House or Senate versions of the bill.
Although many felt that this may be the only Medicare and Medicaid changes for a while, Senate Budget Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) and House Budget Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA) may have a different opinion. In recent weeks, both Gregg and Nussle have promoted a more regular reconciliation schedule, suggesting that the Deficit Reduction Act "begins the process" of cutting entitlement spending. However, numerous observers have noted that it took an incredible amount of political capital to pass this bill - forcing the Vice President to cast the deciding vote in the Senate and the House bill passing by four votes. Additional cuts are likely to be a very difficult sell to Republican members facing a tough reelection.

Hudson Health Plan Creates Hudson Center

The Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality (Hcheq), a division of Hudson Health Plan, promotes the delivery of high quality health care for all people. Hcheq is an advocate for equitable health care policy and a developer of information technologies for improving the quality, safety and efficiency of medical care. As the national health information infrastructure grows, Hcheq will contribute by offering tools that streamline clinical and administrative practices.

Hcheq goals are to:
  • To identify barriers to care, and to propose policies and technologies to reduce those barriers.
  • To promote patient education and disseminate care guidelines and other self-management tools.
  • To better define medical necessity by promoting the use of evidence-based medicine in government-sponsored health programs.
EXCELLENCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

2006 Schedule of Roundtables Now Available
The schedule of roundtable conference calls for ACAP senior staffing groups (CMOs, CFOs, Compliance, etc.) is now available in the Members Only section of ACAP's website.

Recap: CFO Roundtable

On the CFO Roundtable, CFOs discussed the ACAP benchmarking initiative and discussed key financial indicators that CFOs are most interested in including in this benchmarking study. If CFOs that were not on the call want to discuss particular indicators they are interested in including, please contact Peggy Oehlmann at poehlmann@communityplans.net.

To Access ACAP Roundtable and Best Practices Conference Calls, please see the Members Only section of our website.

All calls at 3 pm Eastern time, 2 pm Central, 1 pm Mountain, 12 pm Pacific, and 10 am Hawaii, unless otherwise noted.
Recap: CIO Roundtable

On the CIO Roundtable, CIOs heard from Chris Koppen, ACAP's lobbyist about developments in Washington with Health IT legislation. CIOs also discussed the ACAP benchmarking initiative and discussed key IT indicators that CIOs are most interested in including in this benchmarking study. If CIOs that were not on the call want to discuss particular indicators they are interested in including, please contact Peggy Oehlmann at poehlmann@communityplans.net.

Reminder: Quality/Disease Management Directors Roundtable

The next QM/DM Roundtable is Thursday, February 9 at 3 pm Eastern time. The topic of the call will be to discuss Health Risk Assessment tools used by plans. Please see the agenda in the QM/DM Directors Roundtable section in the Members Only portion of our website. Please contact Peggy Oehlmann at poehlmann@communityplans.net with questions or agenda items.

Reminder: Provider Relations Roundtable

The next Provider Relations Roundtable is Thursday, February 16 at 3 pm Eastern time. Topics and an agenda will be circulated prior to the call. Please contact Peggy Oehlmann at poehlmann@communityplans.net with questions or additional agenda items.

ACAP Job Bank
 ACAP maintains job listings on its website for jobs related to Medicaid managed care and health policy, both in Washington and regionally. If you would like to post a job announcement, please send it to Meg Murray at mmurray@communityplans.net. The job announcements are at http://www.communityplans.net/jobs/jobs.asp.
Reminder: Policy Call

ACAP will hold a policy call to discuss the Administration's FY 2007 Medicaid budget policies on February 13 @ 2 pm EST. A memo outlining the policies will be distributed on Wednesday, February 8th.


NEWSFLASH

Cover Everybody Website

Hudson Health Plan has sponsored a website called Cover Everybody. Through the website the organization will advocate for change, be a clearinghouse for universal coverage proposals, act as a catalyst for coalition building. The website can be accessed at www.covereverybody.org


Upcoming Events

February Events

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat/Sun
 
  
 1 
 2 
ACAP CIO Roundtable		 3 
 4/5 
6 
 7 
 8 
 9 
ACAP QM Directors Roundtable		 10 
Medicaid and Health Reform Board Discussion, Colorado Springs		 11/12 
13 
Policy Roundtable Call
2 pm		 14 
ACAP Medicare Roundtable		 15 
Hotel Cut-Off Date for LA Board Meeting		 16 
ACAP Provider Relations Roundtable 		17 
 18/19 
20 
 21 
 22 
ACAP Program Committee Call

ACAP Quality Management Committee Call		 23 
 24 
 25/26 
27 
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March Events

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat/Sun
 
  
 1 
ACAP Finance Committee Call		 2 
ACAP Executive Committee Call		 3 
 4/5 
6 
 7 
 8 
 9 
 10 
 11/12 
13 
 14 
 15 
 16 
 17 
 18/19 
20 
ACAP Board Meeting, Los Angeles		 21 
ACAP Board Meeting, Los Angeles		 22 
 23 
 24 
 25/26 
27 
 28 
 29 
 30 
 31 
  

ACAP Mission: To improve the health of vulnerable populations through the support of Medicaid-focused community affiliated health plans committed to these populations and the providers who serve them.

James Hooley, Chairman Margaret A. Murray, Executive Director,
mmurray@communityplans.net, 202.331.4601

Association for Community Affiliated Plans
1400 Eye Street, NW, Suite 330
  Washington, DC 20005
http://www.communityplans.net
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