5 Things Florida: Future of Medicaid, Conference keynotes, Q&A w/Dr. Christine Cauffield

By

Emily Boerger

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Thank you so much to everyone who joined us at the 2022 Florida State of Reform Health Policy Conference a few weeks ago. It was an exciting day filled with insightful presentations and engaging conversations. If you weren’t able to make it to the event, we’ve put together a “What You Missed” video that will give you a sense of the sights and sounds from the event.

Below, we feature two keynote videos from the conference, coverage of our panel conversation on the future of Medicaid in Florida, and a Q&A with Christine Cauffield, PsyD, CEO of LSF Health Systems.

Thanks for reading!

Emily Boerger
State of Reform

 

1. A conversation with Congressman Neal Dunn, MD

During our Morning Keynote at the State of Reform conference, we were honored to host Congressman Neal Dunn, MD, for a conversation on health policy reform in Congress. Dunn represents Florida’s 2nd Congressional District and sits on the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health.

Dunn’s comments touch on a number of health issues being discussed at the federal level including price transparency, Medicaid reimbursement, value, and drug costs. Dunn says telemedicine is another primary areas of focus—specifically as it relates to regulation, medical liability, and licensure. You can view the video of his full remarks here.


2. Q&A: Dr. Christine Cauffield discusses new BH funding

Christine Cauffield, PsyD, is the CEO of LSF Health Systems, a managing entity that focuses on providing behavioral health services in Northeast and North Central Florida. In this Q&A, Cauffield discusses LSF Health Systems’ plans for the “unprecedented” new behavioral health funding coming from the legislature.

In looking at how the new funding could be spent, Cauffield says her organization reviewed its needs assessment data to find service gaps in the 23 counties they serve. From there, they submitted a plan to DCF requesting new programs and the expansion of existing programs that are seeing positive outcomes. “The fact that the new funding is recurring in nature is, again, such a blessing for our system of care,” says Cauffield. “Recurring dollars allow so much more flexibility and gives us the guarantee that any new programs or expansion of programs will continue with this new funding.”

 

3. What They’re Watching: David Rogers, ILS

Independent Living Systems is making strides to improve both the provider and patient experience by working on the integration of Medicaid and Medicare services for dual-eligible Floridians. In this edition of “What They’re Watching,” ILS President David Rogers discusses some of the efforts ILS is pursuing to ensure more integrated and seamless care for this population.

“A lot of us in the company have worked a good part of our careers trying to crack that nut about putting Medicaid and Medicare together,” he said. Integration-related efforts include ensuring dual-eligibles have a single case manager for both plans, and doing work related to crossover payments for providers.

 

4. The future of Medicaid

During our “Hot topics in Florida Medicaid” panel, experts came together to discuss two major issues that will impact the state’s Medicaid program in the near future: the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care re-procurement process and upcoming eligibility redeterminations. Over 5.2 million Floridians are now enrolled in Medicaid, according to the most recent data from AHCA, which represents a significant increase from the 3.7 million enrollees prior to the pandemic.

Patti Grogan, Director of Policy & Programs for the Office of Economic Self Sufficiency at DCF, says the state is pursuing several strategies to prepare for the redetermination process including consolidating redeterminations, ex parte reviews, and improvements to communication and outreach efforts. She says the two groups most likely to lose their Medicaid eligibility are those who experience age-related changes, such as turning 65 and needing to move to Medicare, or those who experience a change in income.

 

5. A conversation with Beth Kidder, HMA

During our Afternoon Keynote, Health Management Associates Principal Beth Kidder shared a prospective look at the future of health care in Florida. Kidder served as Florida’s Deputy Secretary for Medicaid from 2016 to 2021 and brings to the table over 20 years of experience in managed care, long-term care services, and quality improvement.

During the keynote, Kidder discussed the importance of integrating equity and the social determinants of health into Medicaid practices to improve overall quality measures. “If you have a patient who has serious mental illness or diabetes that’s uncontrolled, and they’re housing insecure, they’re not going to manage their health care condition … If we’re going to keep moving the needle on quality metrics, we’re going to have to—at a minimum—partner with other organizations where [SDOH] is their strength.” You can watch her full keynote here.