MAY 11, 2021 | COMMUNICATION BULLETIN ISSUE 75 IN THIS ISSUE: Special Q&A Webinar for Vaya Network Providers: Crossover to NC Medicaid Managed Care | 2021 Community Needs Assessment Survey Period Extended | Updated NC Medicaid Fact Sheet for Members Available | Provider Guidance for Medicaid Beneficiary Communication | Medicaid Managed Care Open Enrollment Ends Friday | DMH/DD/SAS Training Needs Assessment | WNC COVID-19 Regional Report
Special Q&A Webinar for Vaya Network Providers: Crossover to NC Medicaid Managed Care Friday, May 14, 2021, 10 – 11:30 a.m. Vaya, in partnership with NC Medicaid, will host the second of two webinars to provide an overview of NC Medicaid’s transition to the Standard Plan option and guidance for behavioral health providers that will be supporting members transitioning to a Standard Plan on July 1, 2021. If you have questions, please email provider.training@vayahealth.com.
CROSSOVER TO NC MEDICAID MANAGED CARE – MAY 14, 2021, 10 A.M. - 12 P.M
2021 Community Needs Assessment Survey Period Extended Open through Friday, May 14, 2021 We want to hear from you about your experience with mental health, substance use and intellectual and/or developmental disability services in western North Carolina. Visit www.vayahealth.com/cnas , then select the survey option that best describes you: Vaya Members and Family Members (Relatives and Natural Supports) Community Stakeholders and Vaya Network Providers Vaya requests that network providers and community stakeholders post and share the survey flyer to increase the number of survey participants and help us better understand the needs of local communities. Survey answers will remain
anonymous. Have questions? Email GapsandNeeds_Survey@vayahealth.com .
Updated NC Medicaid Fact Sheet for Members Available NC Medicaid has updated the “Do I Need to Choose a Health Plan?” fact sheet. This revised version, now in English and Spanish , clarifies the groups of beneficiaries that must, may or cannot choose a managed care health plan during open enrollment. For example, members “with a serious mental illness, a serious emotional disturbance, a severe substance use disorder, an intellectual/developmental disability, or who have survived a traumatic brain injury and who are receiving traumatic brain injury services, who are on the waiting list for the Traumatic Brain Injury waiver, or whose traumatic brain injury otherwise is a knowable fact,” may, but are not required to, enroll in a Standard Plan. Innovations Waiver participants are excluded from choosing a Standard Plan because Innovations services are not available through the Standard Plans. Many services available through LME/MCOs are not available under the Standard Plans, so it is important that members understand if they are exempt from the requirement to choose a health plan. The fact sheet also includes contact information for the NC Medicaid Enrollment Broker Call Center (833-870-5500 or ncmedicaidplans.gov ) if beneficiaries have additional questions. Please replace any printed copies with the new version.
Provider Guidance for Medicaid Beneficiary Communication N.C. DHHS is aware that some providers are encouraging patients to sign up for Medicaid Managed Care and listing the Standard Plans they have contracted with to help beneficiaries with health plan selection. Receiving letters or other information from providers to sign up for a health plan is causing some confusion for beneficiaries who are not required to enroll in a Standard Plan. While DHHS welcomes this type of engagement from providers, the agency is asking providers conducting outreach to include the following language in any communication to their patients about health plan selections and signing up for NC Medicaid Managed Care: “This letter is not an official enrollment notice. Depending on your current eligibility, you may not be required to enroll with a health plan. Please call the Enrollment Broker at 833-870-5500 (TTY: 833-870-5588) for assistance.”
Medicaid Managed Care Open Enrollment Ends Friday NC Medicaid Managed Care open enrollment ends Friday, May 14, 2021, for beneficiaries selecting from one of five Standard Plans or the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Tribal Option. Standard Plans and the EBCI Tribal Option are scheduled to go live July 1, 2021. Beneficiaries can enroll in a Standard Plan or the EBCI Tribal Option online, by calling the NC Medicaid Enrollment Broker Call Center at 833-870-5500 (TTY: 833-870-5588) or through the free NC Medicaid Managed Care mobile app available on Google Play or the App Store. They can also use the mail-in forms sent to them in the enrollment packet in March. Behavioral Health and I/DD Tailored Plans, which will cover beneficiaries with significant behavioral health or intellectual and/or developmental disability needs, are scheduled to launch July 1, 2022. Tailored Plans will also serve NC Innovations and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) waiver enrollees (and waitlist members) and will be responsible for managing the state’s non-Medicaid behavioral health, developmental disabilities and TBI services for uninsured and underinsured North Carolinians. For more information, visit the NC Medicaid Behavioral Health I/DD Tailored Plan website. For more information, visit the Medicaid Transformation website.
DMH/DD/SAS Training Needs Assessment Open through June 14, 2021, at 5 p.m. N.C. DMH/DD/SAS is seeking input to identify training needs across the system of services for children, youth and young adults dually diagnosed with a mental illness and an IDD (including Autism Spectrum Disorder). DMH/DD/SAS and the Behavioral Health Springboard at the UNC Chapel Hill School of Social Work collaborated to develop a needs assessment to gain insight from providers, LME/MCO and DHHS staff, members and families on how to best support expanded training and workforce development efforts. This voluntary assessment is anonymous and takes approximately five minutes to complete. DMH/DD/SAS encourages multiple individuals within organizations to complete the assessment, including multiple staff from each provider site location, if applicable. Responses will help craft training and workforce development efforts to strengthen a highly qualified child-serving behavioral health system.
DMH/DD/SAS TRAINING ASSESSMENT
WNC COVID-19 Regional Report Vaya is proud to be a key partner in the monthly WNC COVID-19 Regional Report from the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) in conjunction with nine other WNC health and social services organizations. Together, we’re committed to providing WNC’s medical community with timely information on COVID-19 through weekly updates on regional trends, needs, resources and training opportunities. Read more: WNC COVID-19 Regional Report (May 7, 2021)
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