This October, the Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO) Non-Medical Drivers of Health (NMDOH) Learning Collaborative convened for a second in-person meeting of the year. The Learning Collaborative enables Texas’ Medicaid MCOs to learn about effective strategies and interventions to address non-medical needs of Medicaid members from one another and from leading-edge health plan and provider innovators across the nation. NMDOH continues to be a hot topic in Texas Medicaid, sparking a packed agenda and a sixth year of funding for the Learning Collaborative from the Episcopal Health Foundation.
The Collaborative was established through a partnership with the Episcopal Health Foundation (EHF), the Texas Association of Health Plans, and the Texas Association of Community Health Plans, and has grown significantly over the past five years to include the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), community-based organizations, provider organizations, and other stakeholders. Support has also grown to include funding from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation. Treaty Oak Strategies will continue to organize, facilitate, and support the Learning Collaborative in year six.
Meeting Recap
State and Federal Updates
HHSC kicked off the meeting with updates on Access and Eligibility Services (AES) from Chief Program and Services Officer Michelle Alletto, including the significant progress AES has made processing a backlog of Medicaid and SNAP applications and implementing strategies to create data and system efficiencies. Deputy Associate Commissioner Michelle Erwin followed with updates on the implementation of HB 1575. Later, Veronica Neville (HHSC), Andrea Gomez (Texas Children’s Health Plan), and LaTreace Harrison (Wellpoint) gave an overview of a pilot that tested the NMDOH screening questions. HHSC will publish findings in a report this December.
Later in the day, Dr. Carol Huber from the Institute for Public Health gave an update on the Value Based Payment and Quality Improvement Advisory Committee’s legislative recommendations, which will be published in December, and CHCS’ Anna Spencer and Rob Hutson provided an update on federal guidance and state efforts to identify and address NMDOH needs. They highlighted innovative projects from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts that address food security through food delivery, as well as efforts from New York and North Carolia to enhance food security through transportation and case management services.
Health Literacy
Keeping momentum from the last meeting, one of the day’s most engaging sessions centered on findings from a new “Engaging Medicaid Members” EHF report identifying gaps in health literacy and opportunities for member engagement. Earlier this fall, MCOs held focus groups with pregnant and recently pregnant members to hear directly about their experiences learning about Medicaid services. These focus groups revealed that members needed to receive information on services early in their enrollment; that direct, personal contact from their health plan was the best way for them to understand benefits and value-added services; and that members want as much information as they can get. After a brief presentation, a panel of MCO representatives discussed focus group findings and solutions to improve health literacy.
Updates on Texas Projects
During a packed afternoon session, Tara Stafford of Baylor Scott & White Health Plan gave an update on Waco Connect, a 2-year EHF-funded pilot program aimed at connecting families with mental health needs to a network of non-medical resources. Three additional EHF-funded projects were discussed during closing remarks:
ARPA-H Heroes funding opportunity,
A Milliman report that uses Texas MCO data to study diabetes and pre-diabetes cost drivers and trends associated with high-risk pregnancies, and
A new landscape assessment of Texas NEMT benefits.
Looking Ahead
As we head into the Learning Collaborative’s sixth year, we are beginning to plan upcoming webinars and in-person meetings to tackle the following topics:
89th Legislative Session outcomes
Collaboration with providers on NMDOH screening
Data sharing
Best practices for contracting between MCOs and community-based organizations
Building alternative payment models that include NMDOH screening and/or interventions.
You can find the slide deck, notes and other meeting materials here. Stay tuned for updates on all the great work taking place by the Learning Collaborative.
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