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Meeting ID: Meeting ID: 868 3739 9444
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Meeting ID: 868 3739 9444
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Speaker(s):
Jennifer Bowdoin, Director, Division of Community Systems Transformation, CMS
Topic:
As the pandemic continues to impact health care, it is important that Medicaid beneficiaries needing long-term services and supports (LTSS) receive the assistance required to live in the setting of their choice; for many this means care at home. Additional federal funding made available under the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 allows states to tailor home and community-based services (HCBS) enhancements based on the needs and priorities of their residents, while protecting and strengthening the HCBS workforce, safeguarding financial stability for HCBS providers, and accelerating LTSS reform and innovation.
During this meeting, Jennifer Bowdoin will discuss activities that states are implementing to enhance, expand, or strengthen HCBS under ARP section 9817, which provides qualifying states with a temporary 10 percentage point increase to the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for certain Medicaid expenditures for HCBS beginning April 1, 2021, and ending March 31, 2022. States have until March 31, 2024 to spend the additional funding they draw down. This increase of almost $13 billion in funding represents a rare opportunity for states to identify and implement changes aimed at addressing existing HCBS workforce and structural issues, expand the capacity of critical services, and begin to meet the needs of people on HCBS waitlists and family caregivers.
Additional information is available on a newly recently CMS webpage: Strengthening and Investing in Home and Community Based Services for Medicaid Beneficiaries: American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Section 9817 Spending Plans and Narratives | Medicaid that describes how CMS will approach this. See also a report by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) at https://www.nashp.org/states-use-american-rescue-plan-act-funds-to-strengthen-home-and-community-based-service-workforce/
About the Speaker(s):
Jennifer Bowdoin, CMS
Jennifer Bowdoin is the Director of the Division of Community Systems Transformation in the Disabled and Elderly Health Programs Group in the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In this role, she is responsible for programs and initiatives that promote community integration, increase access to services, and improve quality of care and outcomes for older adults, people with disabilities, and people with substance use disorders. Prior to joining CMS, Jennifer served as a consultant to the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services where she focused on the design and implementation of new initiatives to improve outcomes for people receiving long-term services and services and people who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. Previously, Jennifer was the Manager of New Initiative Development for the Rhode Island Quality Institute, a non-profit organization with a mission to improve the quality, safety, and value of health care in Rhode Island, as well as the manager of Rhode Island’s multi-payer patient-centered medical home initiative. Jennifer has a PhD in Public Health from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a Master of Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Rhode Island, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges.
The meeting materials will also be posted (once available) on the PRESENTATION MATERIALS page.
Long Term Care Discussion Group meetings are intended as forums for candid discussion. Dialogue and comments made during these meetings should be treated as off the record.
For more information about the Long Term Care Discussion Group, and for materials and information relating to previous meetings, visit www.ltcdiscussiongroup.org
SAVE THE DATE NOTIFICATIONS ARE DISTRIBUTED COURTESY OF AMERICA'S HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS (AHIP). If you are not on the e-mail distribution list and wish to be added to it, please contact us at ltcdiscussiongroup@gmail.com