Announcements

• Congratulations to Optimus Health Care for receiving a Nonprofit Grant award from the State of CT to provide adult medical care, in partnership with the Park City Communities (Housing Authority) and the City of Bridgeport!
• 2015 UDS data have been released, including demographic, employment and clinical quality data!
• 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! The CDC offers funding for the development and implementation of high impact HIV prevention projects for young men of color who have sex with men and young transgender persons of color. Learn more!
• New! The National Institute of Aging offers funding to promote data archiving, dissemination, and consultation with producers and users of data resources for research on aging. Learn 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!
• 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 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!

Deb Polun answers this week’s question:

Q: Which health plans will offer coverage on Access Health CT for 2017? Are there any important changes coming next year?

A: Anthem and ConnectiCare will offer plans through Access Health CT for 2017. HealthyCT and United Health will not. Additionally it is not yet known whether brokers will be participating. Stay tuned for more information throughout the fall.
 
Call me at any time with Outreach & Enrollment questions! 860.667.7820!

Upcoming CHCACT Meetings

SBIRT Health Educator Meeting. CHCACT is hosting a meeting of SBIRT health educators on Friday, August 19th from 10-2:00, at CHCACT, 1484 Highland Avenue, Cheshire. Contact Jennifer Saksa with questions.

PTN Quality Forum. CHCACT is hosting a quality forum on Alternative Payment Models on Tuesday, August 23rd from 9-12:00 noon at CHA, 110 Barnes Road, Wallingford. Contact Heather Adams with questions.

Practice Transformation Network Summit. Save the dates of September 15th-16th for CHCACT’s first PTN Summit! 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
8.13.16 New Haven Register: Incubator Garden Run by New Haven Farms Fills a Need (feat. Fair Haven and CS-Hill)
8.11.16 The Hill Op-Ed: Investing in Community Health Centers – A Prescription for Good Health
8.10.16 Norwich Bulletin: UCFS Focuses on Positives As It Celebrates National Health Center Week
8.9.16 Buzzfeed: Reasons Community Health Centers are Innovators in Health Care 

State Health News
8.11.16 CT NewsJunkie: Local Leaders Join Fight to Combat Opioid Epidemic
8.11.16 C-HIT: Disclosure Rules Don’t Stem the Flow of Pharma Money to State’s Doctors
8.10.16 C-HIT: Tech High School LPN Programs Not Accepting New Applicants, May Close
8.10.16 Hartford Business Journal: CHC, Inc’s $1.1M Grant to Extend eConsults to New Mexico 

Health Insurance/Health Reform News
8.15.16 Hartford Business Journal: Many Docs Wary of Medicare Reimbursement Shift
8.14.16 NY Times: Health Insurers Use Process Intended to Curb Rate Increases to Justify Them
8.12.16 NY Times: Cost, Not Choice, is Top Concern of Health Insurance Consumers
8.12.16 NY Times: Medicaid Estimate Renews Cost Concerns over Obamacare
8.11.16 The Hill: Feds – Early Obamacare Data Encouraging
8.8.16 CT Mirror: Health Insurance Brokers Set to Exit Exchange if Commissions Go 

National/Other Health News
8.15.16 NY Times: As State OK Medical Marijuana Laws, Doctors Struggle with Knowledge Gap

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 Deb Polun.

Events/Educational Opportunities