APHA Health Reform Update - April 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
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Posted by: Jon Noel
Your Affiliate and the American Public Health Association work together to promote and protect the public’s health. We are thrilled to share new resources including the Affiliate Affairs newsletter and this Health Reform newsletter. This edition of APHA’s Health Reform Update focuses on the Navigator program and other coming efforts to educate and assist consumers in accessing their new coverage options under the Affordable Care Act. We also share information on Prevention Fund allocations, report on National Public Health Week and share a new APHA health reform resource. Read on! Marketplace Navigators: funding opportunity announcement
On April 9, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the availability of grants to support certain entities in becoming Marketplace Navigators— official resources of consumer information and assistance regarding new public and private coverage options under the ACA. Up to $54 million is available for one-year grants, financed through the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
Of note for the public health community, the FOA states that at least one Navigator per state must be a "community and consumer focused nonprofit,” which can include "Indian Tribes, tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations; State or local human services agencies; and other public or private entities.” Navigators should have experience serving their communities, and will provide information "in a manner that is culturally and linguistically appropriate to diverse communities and accessible to individuals with disabilities.”
These grants will be available for Navigators in states that have opted for state-federal partnership or federally-facilitated marketplaces (exchanges). States that are establishing their own marketplaces should create their own Navigator programs. Letters of Intent, which are strongly encouraged but not required, are due May 1. Grant proposals are due June 7, and awards will be announced in mid-August. CMS will provide online training for grantees. For more information, visit www.grants.gov and search for CFDA # 93.750. CMS is also hosting an informational conference call on Wednesday, April 24 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. ET (1-877-267-1577, ID# 8100). See the sidebar to the right for a round-up of resources on Navigator and other consumer assistance programs, as well as public education tools and research. New regulations and recommendations
In addition to the funding announcement, CMS also recently issued a proposed rule expanding on previously outlined standards for official Navigators and addressing additional entities, called In-Person Assistors, who won’t be official Navigators but will provide consumer outreach and support. Comments on the proposed rule are due May 6. A summary and analysis of the proposed rule is available at the Health Affairs blog.
Other recently released rules and guidance have addressed the requirement for public hospitals to conduct community health needs assessments (IRS), proposals to improve interoperability of health information exchanges (CMS) and standards for the inclusion of qualified health plans and essential community providers (Health Reform GPS summary) in the new marketplaces.
The federal rulemaking process, in which executive agencies issue guidance and invite public comment on the details of how the law will work, is an important part of the Affordable Care Act implementation process. For more information, visit APHA’s ACA Implementation webpage. ACA and prevention funding update
In early April, the Obama administration released final fiscal year 2013 allocations for the Prevention and Public Health Fund, as well as the fiscal year 2014 President's budget that includes proposed FY 2014 allocations for the Prevention Fund.
The FY 2013 Prevention Fund allocation total of $949 million reflects a 5.1 percent reduction of the intended $1 billion amount, due to the sequester. Nearly half of the final allocation — $453.8 million — will be used for health insurance enrollment support activities, including the Navigator grants mentioned above. The Secretary will partially backfill the diverted funds with $121.3 million from other sources, allowing $616.5 million to go to established Prevention Fund programs like the Community Transformation Grants and the National Public Health Improvement Initiative. Trust for America’s Health has issued this chart showing FY 2013 program funding amounts, including the Secretary's Transfer. Another TFAH chart compares annual Prevention Fund amounts to date (not including the FY 2013 Secretary's Transfer, but including the proposed FY 2014 amounts).
For FY 2014, the President's budget proposes the full $1 billion in allocations for the Prevention and Public Health Fund, as he recommends cancelling the sequester and implementing specific cuts and revenue increases instead. National Public Health Week 2013 a success
With more than 200 partners and nearly 300 events registered on the National Public Health Week website this year, APHA would like to thank everyone who contributed to making this year’s NPHW a great success! On April 1, the first day of NPHW 2013, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued a statement on the connection between this year’s theme, "Public Health is ROI: Save Lives, Save Money” and the Affordable Care Act’s focus on preventing illness and keeping people healthy. Ask/answer/share
What are your health reform questions? Email us at [email protected] and we’ll answer one each month. Similarly, if you have health reform resources, research or opportunities to share, let us know. We can’t promise to include all questions or submissions in future e-newsletters, but we’ll do our best. We recently answered this question submitted on our Facebook page, and we thought it was worth sharing via email as well: Q: "Does anyone know of a source that lists the requirements/funding through the Affordable Care Act for health care providers relating to cultural competence/diversity? Things like data collection, workforce diversity, etc.?” A: There are a few different resources we’d recommend. Depending on your need, any one or more might be more useful than the others. One thing to keep in mind is that some of these programs that were created by the ACA have not yet been funded. We suggest you use these resources as a starting point, and look further into the status of any programs you’re particularly interested in.
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