NEWS
RELEASE
Texas
Health and Human Services Commission
Chris Traylor
Executive Commissioner
Executive Commissioner
Date:
May 2, 2016
Contact:
Bryan Black, 512-424-6951
Big Win for Texas, HHSC Receives
Extension for 1115 Waiver
AUSTIN
– The Health and Human Services Commission and the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services have agreed to extend a state and federal partnership that
finds innovative ways to deliver healthcare.
The
1115 Waiver, which funds Uncompensated Care and the Delivery System Reform
Incentive Payment Program (DSRIP), was extended 15 months under an agreement
between the health agency and CMS. The agreement will take the program through
December 2017 and will maintain its current funding.
"We're
pleased these innovative programs will have the opportunity to continue,"
HHS Executive Commissioner Chris Traylor said. "These programs are
improving health care for Texas' Medicaid clients and creating cost-savings for
taxpayers."
Over
the next 15 months, HHSC and CMS, which oversees the Medicaid program, will
continue negotiating a longer term extension.
DSRIP
consists of local programs working to improve health care delivery costs and
outcomes.
There
are 1,451 DSRIP projects across 20 regions in the state. In each region a
coalition of governments, hospitals and other providers are charged with coming
up with novel solutions to containing health care costs while preserving access
and quality. Most projects focus on increasing primary and preventative care,
which not only improves outcomes, but saves money by reducing the need for
expensive emergency room visits. The waiver program also helps hospitals with
uncompensated care costs.
One
program in Travis County trains paramedics to visit people who have frequent
emergency room visits. The program has found some people can't treat conditions
such as diabetes because they don't have a ride to pick up the materials.
Helping prevent serious episodes is healthier and cheaper than an emergency
room visit.
"One
of the things I like best about these projects is they use the knowledge of the
people on the ground to identify their problems," Commissioner Traylor
said. "Beaumont faces different issues than El Paso and the waiver program
takes advantage of local expertise."
The
Uncompensated Care program and Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment
programs are funded through a combination of federal and local money. Both
Uncompensated Care and DSRIP contribute $3.1 billion a year, each.
No comments:
Post a Comment