Announcements

• The latest version of the CT Statewide Environment Report is here. This report, published 2-4 times each year, provides updated information on HUSKY enrollment, poverty and other demographic data, state budget updates and more!

Trainings, Webinars & Conferences

• Please check our Calendar of Events for upcoming trainings!
• Health Management Associates is hosting its inaugural conference on The Future of Publicly Sponsored Healthcare: Building Integrated Delivery Systems for Vulnerable Populations, October 10-12, 2016, in Chicago. Click here to learn more!

Funding Opportunities

• Check out the CHCACT Funding Opportunities page here!
• New! Eastern AHEC offers mini-grants to organizations committed to increasing insurance enrollment in Hispanic communities. Read more!
• Updated! The State of Connecticut has released three addenda to its RFP for participating entities in the State Innovation Model (SIM) Medicaid Quality Improvement Shared Savings Program (MQISSP). This program is open to FQHCs and “advanced networks.” Learn more!
• The State of Connecticut has released an addendum to its RFA for the Community & Clinical Integration Program (CCIP) through SIM. Read more!
• Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation seeks to fund organizations in CT and NJ to improve oral health access for the uninsured and underinsured, in one of three specific populations: children, people with developmental disabilities and older adults. Learn more!
• HRSA has released the Delivery System Health Information Infrastructure funding opportunity. Applications must be submitted into EHB by July 20th. Learn more!
• The CT Health Foundation announces the availability of funding to continue to increase the diversity of consumers participating in health reform engagement and advocacy. To qualify, organizations mustbe 501 (c)(3) and meet two or more of the following criteria (learn more!):
  • Nonprofit is led (e.g., executive director, CEO) by a person of color (PoC); and/or
  • Nonprofit is governed by a board composed of a majority (51%+) of PoC; and/or
  • Nonprofit serves populations/communities of color.
• The NBC 21st Century Solutions grant is seeking organizations that are implementing progressive programs that address emerging or ongoing community challenges in the areas of: Civic Engagement, Education, Environment, Jobs and Economic Empowerment, Media, and Technology for Good. Learn more!
• The HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau is pleased to announce a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for Leadership Training for People of Color living with HIV. Learn more!
• The RGK Foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations in the general areas of education, community and health/medicine. These grants are not geographically-restricted and are awarded on an ongoing basis. Learn more!

Ask CHCACT!

“Ask CHCACT” features Outreach & Enrollment and other questions from health center staff, answered by your favorite CHCACT staff members! Send your questions to ask@chcact.org!

Arianne Cacciatore answers this week’s question:

Q: If I am on Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) because of change in HUSKY income limits, when is the last day I have to sign up for alternate insurance coverage? Also, where can I go to receive in-person help in a new health insurance plan?

A: The last day to enroll in a new health plan is July 31^st. If your employer provides insurance, you must check the date with them. After July 31, you will not be eligible to enroll and you will have to wait until November 1^st to enroll, during the regular Open Enrollment period; that coverage would not begin until January 1, 2017. 

If you are looking for in-person assistance, you can go to a local FQHC. Access Health CT is also hosting enrollment fairs, listed here.

Upcoming CHCACT Meetings

Coffee & EnRolls Webinar. CHCACT will be hosting a Coffee & EnRolls webinar on Monday, July 25th at 9:30 am. Check your email for further information.

Practice Transformation Network Congress. Save the dates of September 15th-16th for CHCACT’s first PTN Congress! More information to follow.

All CHCACT Staff can be reached by calling 860.667.7820.

This Week in Health Policy News

Here is a sampling of health policy news from around the state. If you see something in your local newspaper that you would like featured here in future weeks, please contact Deb Polun at dpolun@chcact.org. Check out all the Health Policy News from the past month here!

Featured Stories 
7.7.16 Journal Inquirer: Medical & Dental Assistants Join Union (feat. CHS)

State Health News
7.18.16 Hartford Business Journal: Hospital Consolidation Brings Competitors Closer Together
7.17.16 CT Health Notes: CT Second Lowest in Premature Deaths, But Also Among Most Costly States
7.15.16 CT Viewpoints: CT’s Income Inequality in Stark Contrast to its Prosperity
7.14.16 The Hour: Cancer, Heart Disease Top Killers in Norwalk
7.13.16 CT Mirror: Sweeping Plan Put Forward to Control Rising Health Care Costs
7.13.16 Hartford Business Journal: Hartford, Waterbury Health Districts Receive Funds to Fight Opioid Overdoses
7.13.16 CT Mirror: Malloy’s Budget Spokesman to Lead CT’s Largest Nonprofit Alliance
7.12.16 New Haven Register: Rally Planned in West Haven to Protest Mental Health Service Cuts 

Health Insurance/Health Reform News
7.15.16 CT Mirror: With Two Weeks Left, Medicaid Transition Reaches 26 Percent
7.14.16 CT NewsJunkie: Access Health CT Grapples with Losing Brokers
7.13.16 CT NewsJunkie: Loss of Insurers Doesn’t Threaten Access Health CT, But is a Great Wake-Up Call

National/Other Health News
7.14.16 Hartford Courant: Five Things to Know about the Federal Opioid Bill
7.12.16 Kaiser Health News: Heart Failure Patients Warned About the Dangers of Mixing Prescriptions

Resources

CHCACT maintains and regularly updates resources on clinical issues, human resources, HIPAA, SNAP and more! Click here to check out CHCACT’s Resources!*

• The Connecticut Department of Public Health has new information about the Zika Virus on its web site, including symptoms and testing guidelines.
• Scope of Project Webpage: HRSA has released a new “Scope of Project” Page on the BPHC website. This page provides a “one-stop-shop” for Health Center Program Scope of Project and Change-in-Scope policy, process, and resources. View the new Scope of Project webpage.
• Capital Link Publications. As part of their assistance to health centers, Capital Link has developed a collection of resource publications to assist health centers in accomplishing specific tasks related to the capital development process. These publications are provided to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Primary Care Associations (PCAs) free of charge. Their resources, including publications, reports, and past webinars are available here.

* Some Resources are password-protected. If you would like a password for www.www.chcact.org, please contact Tasheenah Brown.

Events/Educational Opportunities