On June 3, CSH convened a New York City / Los Angeles Medicaid Health Homes knowledge exchange Roundtable with representatives from NYC Health Homes, care management entities and supportive housing providers at the New York State Health Foundation. In as early as January 2016, California plans to phase-in its statewide implementation of Medicaid Health Homes.
A state option under the Affordable Care Act, Health Homes serve as a care management entity bringing together medical and behavioral health and social service providers to coordinate the care of Medicaid’s most complex and high-cost members. New York State was one of the first states to implement Health Homes in 2012. Similar to New York, California’s Health Homes will be required to integrate supportive housing in their care multi-disciplinary care teams.
Representatives at the roundtable, including those from lead Health Homes and managed care, discussed Health Home infrastructure and core functions of Health Home care coordinators and the various ways they work with housing providers. Representatives also shared with California the challenges faced with implementation of Health Homes, identifying and placing high-need, frequent users of multiple systems in housing as well as emerging best practices for housing and Health Home care coordination.
Through a generous grant from the NYS Health Foundation, in 2013 CSH convened a 7-part statewide series of trainings in collaboration with key New York State government agencies to provide education and resources to help build the capacity of Health Homes and their network of providers to better serve homeless and unstably housed clients who are high utilizers of crisis care.
California will begin its phased-in implementation of its Health Homes for Patients with Complex Needs, or Health Home Program (HHP). HHP will place an emphasis on Medicaid members with high-costs, high-risks, and high utilization who can benefit from increased care coordination of physical health, behavioral health, community-based LTSS, palliative care, and social supports, resulting in reduced hospitalizations and emergency department visits, improved HHP beneficiary engagement and decreased costs. Similar to NY, CA recognizes that homelessness will serve as a barrier to comprehensive care management; the State will require the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to create a health home program for homeless enrollees with chronic conditions.
