In early December, providers, vendors, and healthcare experts from around the country met in Washington, D.C. for the second annual American Health Care Association (AHCA) and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) Population Health Management Summit. American Health Plans is a proud supporter of the AHCA/NCAL Population Health Council and was excited to attend the summit’s several sessions that discussed value-based care initiatives in the senior living industry. The two-day summit featured speakers from the federal government and healthcare industries including opening keynote speaker, Soren Kaplan, who spoke about business model innovation; and closing keynote speaker, Jonathan Blum, Principal Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), who provided an update on the latest happenings at CMS including an overview of the recently announced refresh to the CMS Innovation Center’s 10-year strategic plan.
One hot topic on providers’ minds was addressed in a session titled, “State Trends Around LTSS and Medicare Integration” that discussed how integrating Medicare and Medicaid benefits for members are being discussed by policymakers. The panel was led by Allison Rizer, Principal, ATI Advisory; Suzanne Gore, Principal, State Health Partners; and Tim Engelhardt, Director, CMS Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office. Gore is currently working in conjunction with the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association as the state is currently transitioning to managed Medicaid. The team is with North Carolina policy makers to find innovative ways for I-SNPs to contract with MCOs in order to manage the Medicaid benefit for residents in long-term care settings.
American Health Plans’ Chief Strategy Officer and former AHCA Chair, Tom Coble, co-led a session with Mike Cheek, SVP, Reimbursement Policy & Market Strategy with ACHA/NCAL titled, “Nursing Home without Walls: Expanding the Reach of LTC Population Health”. The session focused on urging skilled nursing providers to seek innovative approaches that can enhance beneficiary access to a variety of health care services outside the traditional SNF setting. Coble highlighted his research and plans to provide such innovative strategies within his homes in Oklahoma. At the end of the session, American Health Plans’ executives Mike Bailey, CEO, and Hank Watson, Chief Development Officer, joined me at a speed networking session to discuss the I-SNP model with interested providers who were ready to join a provider-owned I-SNP. However, as with most conferences, the highlight of the event was a chance to spend time in person with our partners from across the country. Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee were all represented at an American Health Plans partner dinner at Ocean’s Prime Steakhouse. We also had a chance to visit with our friends from Mississippi, Georgia, Missouri, Florida and Idaho.
Caleb Hemmer
Senior Director of Corporate Development, American Health Plans