Medicaid e-News: Iowa Total Care Helps Member Overcome Barriers to Health

November 6, 2020 | Issue 10 | Volume 5

Success Story

Iowa Total Care Helps Member Overcome Barriers to Health

An Iowa Total Care (ITC) case manager helped an Iowa veteran overcome barriers to get the necessary medications they needed to stay healthy.

The member had gone for one month with no medication for diabetes and liver disease because he had trouble filling his prescriptions at a commercial pharmacy.

An ITC case manager stepped in to help the member. Instead of filling the prescriptions through a commercial pharmacy, the case manager worked with the member's physicians to get their prescriptions filled through the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital Pharmacy. However, the VA Pharmacy was not able to fill all of the member's prescriptions right away, so the case manager worked with the commercial pharmacy to fill what the VA Pharmacy could not.

When the prescriptions were ready for pickup, the member could not go and get them because he doesn't drive. So, the ITC case manager helped arrange for transportation for the member.

The ITC case manger helped remove the member's barriers to health, making it simple for them to get well, stay well, and live well.

News and Announcements

Federal Public Health Emergency Extended

On October 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the COVID-19 federal public health emergency (PHE) has been extended another 90 days through January 20, 2021.

This means that the Medicaid waivers and flexibilities currently in place will continue through at least that date.

Based on the federal PHE potentially ending January 20, 2021, the Department of Human Services (DHS) has put together a chart with the earliest possible end dates for each of Iowa's specific Medicaid COVID-19 waivers and flexibilities. This is posted on the DHS website. (These dates are subject to change should the federal PHE be extended again.)

Federal Provider Relief Funding Deadline

A reminder to providers that applications for Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 3 General Distribution payments from HHS are due November 6, 2020.

The PRF offers financial support to healthcare providers who have experienced lost revenues and/or expenses attributable to COVID-19.

According to HHS, in this round of PRF funding, providers are eligible to apply whether they were eligible for, applied for, received, accepted, or rejected prior PRF payment. Additionally, HHS has expanded the pool of eligible applicants to include providers across a broad category of practices. (For a detailed description of all eligible Phase 3 General Distribution provider types, visit the PRF website.)

For more information about the PRF, and to apply, visit: www.hhs.gov/providerrelief.

2020 Annual Provider Training

Due to concerns around the coronavirus, the IME has scheduled the 2020 Annual Provider Training sessions via Zoom.

These trainings will be held on November 17-18, 2020. The trainings will consist of two morning sessions and two afternoon sessions broadcast live.

Providers only need to sign up for one session. For those unable to attend one of the scheduled trainings, the IME will record and post the link to view it on the DHS website.

The Iowa Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) also will participate in the 2020 Annual Provider Training.

For more information, and for the meeting login information, see Informational Letter 2182-MC-FFS.

Register for Upcoming EVV Informational Meetings

Registration is now open for the last stakeholder informational meetings on Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) implementation. The sessions will be led by the IME and the MCOs, and will include representatives from CareBridge, the MCO EVV solution.

The focus of the November session will be on provider agencies, while the focus of the December session will be on Individual Consumer Directed Attendant Care (I-CDAC) and Consumer Choices Options (CCO) providers.

Session 4

Tuesday, November 10, 2020,
3:00 to 4:30 p.m.,
Virtual Meeting

Session 5

Wednesday, December 2, 2020,
6:00 to 7:30 p.m.,
Virtual Meeting

Providers interested in attending either session, can register online. Providers are encouraged to submit EVV questions with their registration.

The deadline to register for Session 4 is 5 p.m., November 9, 2020. Registration for Session 5 will remain open until 5 p.m., December 1, 2020, at the same web address.