Innovations in Health Reform Update April 2013 (pdf)
When it comes to innovators in health reform, Oklahoma deserves special recognition for taking steps to put an online real-time eligibility and enrollment system into place even before the ACA passed. In 2007, Oklahoma began planning for a first-class paperless application system for its Medicaid program, SoonerCare. Since 2010, Oklahoma has had a No Wrong Door online application that provides 24-hour, 7-day a week access to online enrollment and benefits for its most vulnerable population.
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Download submitted comments from The Children's Partnership and our consumer advocate partners regarding the Exchange's March 21, 2013 proposed eligibility and enrollment regulations for the Individual Exchange (Covered California).
Innovations in Health Reform Update March 2013 (pdf)
With the Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) solidly behind us, states are racing to get State-Based, Federally-Facilitated, or State Partnership Exchanges and related enrollment systems ready by October 1, 2013. Following are some good resources to help states tackle issues they face today:
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Download TCP's submitted comments to CMS on the proposed Online and Paper Model Applications, CMS-10440.
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Download submitted comments from California's Children Advocates to CMS on proposed rulemaking regarding streamlining and seamlessness under the ACA, CMS-2334-P.
Innovations in Health Reform Update February 2013 (pdf)
As States prepare to develop their Exchanges, they must decide what kind of systems infrastructure to implement. Many states may be inclined to develop a centralized, hierarchical architecture because it has been the predominant model of most state IT systems. This month Hunt Blair, Deputy Commissioner of Health Reform for the Vermont Health Access Agency of Human Services, shares with our readers how a “distributed network” approach can help states build an Exchange that “makes connections the way people make connections.” In this interview, Blair goes into detail about how states can realize these and other efficiencies and explains how consumers will be positively impacted by the new approach.
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The Primer and Webinar
 This brief lays out the case for investing in systems that enable electronic information exchange for children and youth in foster care, reviews existing efforts underway in states and communities, identifies specific elements that serve this population most effectively, and discusses steps that state advocates can take to establish an integrated electronic record of care for foster children and youth in their state.
Download the issue brief.
The Children’s Partnership and SPARC co-hosted a webinar, Electronic Information Exchange: Elements that Matter for Children in Foster Care (audio recording and slides), providing examples of current electronic information exchange programs in the states.
Presentations included:
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Health Reform Enrollment January 2013 Update (pdf)
In the waning days of 2012, Congress took the welcome step of extending the Express Lane Eligibility (ELE) option, lending further support to state efforts to deploy data-driven enrollment strategies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Since the option was granted in 2009, states have used the strategy to help large numbers of children obtain coverage.
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Health Reform Enrollment December 2012 Update (pdf)
As states continue to look for new ways to meet the challenge of enrolling millions of people into health insurance in 2014, leaders in the development of new mobile technologies are exploring new ways to enroll families using mobile tools – including smartphones, iPads, and other tablets.These new technologies could help make the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) vision of a “first-class” consumer experience into a reality. Social Interest Solutions (SIS) is one of those leaders, having developed a mobile application of its Web-based enrollment tool, One-e-App. Pilot testing of this tool demonstrates its potential to make enrollment in health insurance and other programs available at the touch of a fingertip – whenever and wherever it is most convenient for families.
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Health Reform Enrollment November 2012 Update (pdf)
The federal government has extended the deadline for states to submit the final Exchange Blueprint (Blueprint). This extension (and any future extensions) provides advocates and other stakeholders with another opportunity to help shape their state’s Exchange. The Blueprint will outline Exchange activities, such as premium tax credit and cost sharing reduction determinations, exemptions, risk adjustment programs, reinsurance programs, plan management, CHIP and Medicaid eligibility assessments and consumer assistance.
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The Children's Partnership developed a new factsheet on the CHDP Gateway, with recommendations on incorporating it as part of California’s implementation of the ACA and further strengthened to serve as an important pathway for meeting the health and enrollment goals of health care reform while maintaining its ability for children to access needed services.
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Health Reform Enrollment October 2012 Update (pdf)
As states look ahead one year and anticipate what it takes to enroll large numbers of individuals in the coverage newly made available by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), they can take some lessons from states that have had success with Express Lane Eligibility (ELE). ELE allows states to reach and enroll large numbers of children (and, with CMS approval, parents) through other means-tested programs that have collected and evaluated much of the same eligibility information.
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Health Reform Enrollment September 2012 Update
With a little more than a year to go before state health insurance Exchanges must be open for business, states are under tremendous pressure to develop an enrollment system that will meet the needs of consumers. The tremendous complexity involved in the development of an eligibility and enrollment system has required states to invest an enormous amount of resources and time to successfully complete the project. One of the ways that Oregon has found to meet this challenge has been through formal and informal collaborations, through which it has learned as much as it can from other states and available resources.
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The Children's Partnership submitted a letter to Governor Brown, urging his signature of SB 970 (de Leon). SB 970 would integrate the process of applying for health coverage with public programs such as CalFresh and CalWORKS.
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Download TCP's submitted comments on Draft Elements and Supporting Statement for Data Collection to Support Eligibility Determinations, CMS-10433, CMS-10438, CMS-10439 and CMS-10440.
Health Reform Enrollment August 2012 Update
The Children’s Partnership (TCP) spoke with leaders of Massachusetts’ effort to get that state’s eligibility and enrollment system ready for 2014. This E-Update provides readers with the heart of those conversations — about challenges, opportunities, and sharable lessons — in the attached interview with:
- Scott Devonshire - Principal Functional Lead for the New England States Collaborative for Insurance Exchange Systems (NESCIES);
Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority (“Health Connector”);
- Jay Himmelstein, MD, MPH - Director, New England States Collaborative for Insurance Exchange Systems (NESCIES);
Professor, Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School ; and
- Michael Tutty, MHA, PhD - Director, Office of Health Policy and Technology (HPT);
Project Director, New England States Collaborative for Insurance Exchange Systems (NESCIES);
Instructor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School.
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Health Reform Enrollment July 2012 Update
As the deadline for full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) quickly approaches, many states are hard at work developing health insurance exchanges and eligibility/enrollment systems on their own. Vermont is one of a half dozen states partnering with The New England States Collaborative Insurance Exchange Systems (NESCIES) to pool their resources to develop cutting edge and cost-effective technology components, software and best practices for the implementation of an insurance exchange. What Vermont policymakers understand, and others often miss, is the value of taking a comprehensive and coordinated approach to health information technology (HIT) — both in terms of partnering with other states to develop core systems components that can be shared as well as in terms of coordinating across its own enterprise.
Download Background Document: A Closer Look at Vermont
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Download recommendations sent to California policymakers responsible for designing eligibility and enrollment under ACA
 
Kristen Golden Testa, Health Director
Health Action 2012 Families USA, Washington DC
January 19, 2012
Download the Power Point
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By Dawn Horner and Beth Morrow | January 2012
 This roadmap lays out the four design features (and practical recommendations for action within each) necessary to enroll almost 4 million Californians newly eligible for subsidized health coverage under health reform, in addition to assisting the over 8 million already receiving such coverage. While written with a specific focus on California, the information and recommendations in the report will be relevant to decisionmakers in any state.
Download the Executive Summary
Download the Full Report
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Terms:Beth Morrow, California, Consumer Engagement, Dawn Horner, Electronic Information Exchange, Family-Friendly Enrollment, Health , Health Care/Reform, Health IT, HIT, Technology
State Health Watch
Download article here.
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CPEHN Health Equity Forum
Download article here.
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Health Reform Enrollment September 2011 Update
Maximizing the Value of HIT to Improve the Health of Children: A Guide for Consumer Engagement.
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