(November 30, 2017)

By Carol Backstrom, Principal and Director, Delivery System Transformation

Recently, the CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) released a Request for Information (RFI) regarding the future direction of the agency’s priorities. The RFI noted that CMS was seeking feedback on “a new direction to promote patient-centered care and test market-driven reforms that empower beneficiaries as consumers, provide price transparency, increase choices and competition to drive quality, reduce costs, and improve outcomes.”...

(May 2, 2017)

By Hilary Haycock
President

Last week, I gave a presentation at the Northern California State of Reform Conference on what multi-silo care coordination looks like in California’s safety net. The good news? California is investing in innovative programs designed to break down those silos and help providers deliver person-centered care. The bad news? We still have a long way to go!...

(March 15, 2017)

By Carol Backstrom
Principal and Director, Delivery System Transformation

Much has been said (and speculated) about the future of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion, and insurance exchanges. While policy makers and pundits in Washington agree that change is afoot, one thing seems clear: health care delivery system transformation is here to stay....

(February 27, 2017)

By Molly Brassil, Director, Behavioral Health Policy
and Courtney Kashiwagi, Senior Policy Consultant

This month, two California counties began delivering substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services to Medi-Cal enrollees under the state’s pilot program testing a new delivery system for enrollees with SUDs. The pilot, known as the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS), was authorized in 2015 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under California’s Medicaid Section 1115 waiver....

(January 18, 2017)

By Lucy Pagel
Policy Consultant

Approved at the end of 2015, California’s Medicaid section 1115 waiver renewal, known as Medi-Cal 2020 is now well underway. The waiver has many components, but the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) was particularly active in three areas during 2016: 1) The Public Hospital redesign and Incentives in Medi-Cal (PRIME) Program (formerly known as DSRIP), 2) The Whole Person Care (WPC) pilot program, and 3) The Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS). Harbage Consulting was proud to provide policy and operational support to the state on each of these initiatives....