The National HCH Council’s latest In Focus: A Quarterly Research Review shines a light on the “Vital Role of Case Management for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness.” Case management is an integral feature of health care delivery and support services for people without homes, and its importance has only risen as recent reforms have placed health insurance coverage within greater reach of this population. This publication provides a helpful overview of case management services, their positive outcomes, and their intersections with specific interventions and care coordination. Synthesizing recent research, the resource offers an insightful look at case management’s implications for practice, policy, and future research.

A newly released quick guide from the National HCH Council examines how HCH grantees can gather and utilize patient satisfaction data to improve patient experiences. Patient satisfaction is a key measure of quality health care, and regular assessment is required for all Health Center Program Grantees. “Addressing Patient Satisfaction in Health Care for the Homeless Projects” provides a succinct review of the strategies necessary to plan for, collect, and respond to such information. These practice recommendations emerged from a 2015 focus group of expert HCH administrators and client advocates, HRSA guidance, and scientific literature.

Homelessness among LBGTQ youth is the focus of “At the Intersections,” a collaborative digital report of the National LGBTQ Task Force and True Colors Fund featuring contributions from Council Research Associate Claudia Davidson and Research Director Molly Meinbresse. The resource provides an overview of LGBTQ youth homelessness, highlighting lesser-discussed topics such as intersectionality and race, immigration, and rural youth homelessness. Additionally, the report introduces emerging ideas and innovative solutions to LGBTQ youth homelessness, challenging readers to consider new ways to address this national issue. Davidson will also address measures to eliminate barriers to care for transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals in a session at #HCH2016.

Council Project Manager Juli Hishida and Research Director Molly Meinbresse will co-present a free training, “Demonstrating the Value of Enabling Services through Data Collection,” on May 24, 2016, at the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations' (AAPCHO) national health summit in Atlanta, GA. Enabling services (ES) are a critical component of the comprehensive services provided by health center program grantees, but the lack of data on ES can hinder efforts to represent their value to payers and policymakers. To address that need, presenters from AAPCHO and the Council will highlight concepts and strategies from AAPCHO’s nationally-recognized ES data-collecting model. Attendees can register online or on-site for the summit.

Staff and Organizational Members of the National HCH Council lent their perspectives to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation webinar on the impact of Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion on HCH projects in expansion and non-expansion states. On April 26, the webinar presented findings from a policy brief utilizing UDS data to reveal important changes among HCH projects in the first full year of Medicaid expansion in both types of states. The archived briefing is now available. Additionally, on May 3, the Council hosted a webinar on how HCH grantees can inform their quality improvement efforts with UDS reporting software. View the archived webinar and materials.

The National HCH Council supports a recent providers' call for deeper health care reform, “Beyond the Affordable Care Act: A Physicians’ Proposal for Single-Payer Health Care Reform,” published in the American Journal of Public Health. On May 5, over 2,200 physicians across the U.S. called for the creation of a publicly-financed national health program that would cover medically necessary care for all Americans. The Council supports this and other proposals to recognize that health care is not a privilege, but a human right. Show your support: endorse the proposal as a physician or medical student or as a professional or reform advocate.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have released Final Medicaid Managed Care Regulations that align Medicaid and CHIP plans with other types of insurance plans. A helpful summary of highlights is available from our partners at the National Health Law Program. Additionally, CMS has issued guidance on facilitating Medicaid coverage for individuals transitioning from incarceration to the community. Encouraging states to identify ways to improve health care access for this population, the guidance clarifies that individuals on parole/probation or pending trial, those living in supervised community residential facilities, and those on home confinement remain eligible for Medicaid.