State will hold monthly public meetings, starting March 8, to explain changes in Medicaid program - Health News

State officials have announced 10 public "stakeholder advisory forums" to help ensure a successful transition to the state's new Medicaid plan, called Kentucky HEALTH (Helping to Engage and Achieve Long-Term Health).

The first forum will be held March 8 in Frankfort and subsequent ones will be held on the first Thursday of each month, alternating between Frankfort and other cities, with two in Louisville and one each in Owensboro, Somerset and Ashland.

"Throughout the past year and half, we have benefitted greatly from meeting with stakeholders offering helpful insight and services,” Kristi Putnam, program manager of what the state calls the Kentucky HEALTH Medicaid Transformation Project, said in a news release. “The ongoing engagement and participation of Kentucky HEALTH’s diverse and wide-ranging stakeholders is critical to the success of the program."

Kentucky's new Medicaid plan comes with plenty of changes, including new rules that require some on the program to work, volunteer or get job training 80 hours a month to keep their health insurance.

It also has new premium requirements, monthly reports of employment and income; annual re-enrollments; and "lock-out" periods for those who don't comply. In addition, the new plan requires Medicaid recipients to participate in a list of activities to get dental or vision coverage, benefits that have been automatically covered.

"These meetings will provide opportunities for the Kentucky HEALTH project team to provide updates on implementation activities, offer system demonstrations, engage citizens in system and process testing, discuss draft communications, answer questions about operationalizing specific policies, give notice of upcoming communications from the commonwealth to beneficiaries, and address topics brought forth by forum participants," the release said.

The forums, sponsored by the Kentucky HEALTH Transformation Leadership Team and led by Kristi Putnam, will include representatives from the healthcare and workforce development community, as well as frontline state employees. Contact KYHealthTeam@KY.gov to RSVP and to be included on future communications regarding these meetings.

The new plan is expected to cost $374 million over the next two years, most of it federal money, to implement all of these changes. The new requirements will be phased in regionally starting July 1, with the full program expected to be rolled out by the end of the year.

from Kentucky Health News http://ift.tt/2EX19G1 - Health News