Get inspired by InterHab Award winners

Earlier this month at the Power Up! InterHab Annual Conference, InterHab honored several outstanding members of the community at the Awards Luncheon.

If you missed the event you can watch the inspiring stories of each amazing award winner on our conference website. The awards video is featured on the 2015 Awards section of the website and is also broken out by award type.

You can share these videos on your social network by accessing them on our YouTube channel here.

Complete collection of conference handouts online now

In addition to being available on the InterHab app, all handouts from the 2015 Power Up! InterHab Annual Conference are now available for download online.

Visit powerupks.com to download the handouts and/or powerpoints from the learning labs you attended at the conference earlier this month. The handouts are located on the homepage just below the conference description.

Announcing InterHab's 2015 Distinguished Leadership Award Honoree

Jerry Henry, Executive Director at Achievement Services, received the Mark Elmore Award for Distinguished Leadership at the 2015 InterHab Annual Conference on Oct. 16, in Wichita.

The award is presented to a professional who has shown innovation and dedication in the field of developmental disabilities in Kansas over many years. Elmore was a pioneer in this field from Johnson County and left a legacy of inclusion and compassion.

Jerry Henry is a Democratic member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing District 63. He was first elected to the chamber in 2002. He previously served on the Atchison City Commission and as the Mayor of Atchison, Kansas.

Watch the video below to see why Jerry Henry truly deserves to be recognized for his contributions to the Kansas I/DD community.

Coventry withdrawals from Kansas marketplace

A major provider of health insurance in Kansas is pulling out of the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Two companies under the Aetna corporate umbrella — Coventry Health & Life Insurance Co. and Coventry Health Care of Kansas Inc. — are withdrawing from the marketplace just two weeks before the Nov. 1 start of the next open enrollment period. Coventry merged with Aetna in 2013.

Rohan Hutchings, an Aetna spokesperson, said company officials made the decision after reviewing a range of business factors, including the company’s competitive position in the 17 states in which it offers marketplace plans.

“Once we conducted that review, we reluctantly came to the decision that we could no longer meet the needs of our individual on-exchange members in Kansas,” Hutchings said to KHI News. Hutchings said Kansas policyholders would be covered through the end of the year.

The open enrollment runs from November of this year through Jan. 31, 2016, although Dec. 15 is the last day to enroll for coverage starting Jan. 1.

Coventry didn’t inform Kansas Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer of its decision until a few days ago, said Clark Shultz, the department’s director of government affairs. “We are so close to open enrollment, this is very last minute,” Shultz said. “It has really taken us by surprise.” Shultz said that Selzer plans to meet with Coventry officials this week to gain a better understanding of their reasons for withdrawing. “We really don’t have a good handle on them yet,” he said. “They’ve just said it was for a combination of reasons.”

In August, Selzer reduced rate increases requested by Coventry and the other companies participating in the Kansas marketplace. Coventry sought increases of 20 percent to 35 percent, depending on the plan.

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Medicaid mystery: Why is coverage dropping for Kansas children?

For two years now, the staff at Kansas Action for Children has been trying to unravel a mystery: Why is Medicaid enrollment dropping among the state’s youngest children?

Enrollment of low-income children age 1-5 peaked in October 2012 and has been dropping steadily since. Enrollment of children younger than 1 in low-income families also dropped during that period.

In Kansas, children age 1 to 5 are eligible for the state’s privatized Medicaid program, known as KanCare, if they live in families earning less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level, or $36,144 annually for a family of four. Children under the age of 1 are eligible in families earning up to 171 percent of the poverty level, or annually $41,472 for a family of four. The overall child poverty rate in Kansas is trending down, declining from 19 percent in 2013 to 18 percent in 2014, but a Kansas Action for Children spokesperson said it is “highly unlikely” that explains the drop in Medicaid enrollment.

A spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said officials at the state’s lead Medicaid agency don’t know why enrollment is dropping among young children.

Learn more. 

Integrated Wavier: KDHE and KDADS will take more time for stakeholder input

KDADS Secretary Kari Bruffett said State intends to
delay implementation of Medicaid waiver integration 

TOPEKA, Kan. – Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Secretary Dr. Susan Mosier and Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) Secretary Kari Bruffett said today that the agencies intend to delay the target implementation date of Medicaid waiver integration by six months in order to gather additional stakeholder input.

In August, the state announced its intention to consolidate its seven individual 1915(c) home- and community- based services Medicaid waivers into the state’s Section 1115 KanCare demonstration with two service packages, one for adults and one for children. A series of public listening sessions and conference calls have been held to explain the proposal, and the agencies convened a stakeholder workgroup in advance of release of a draft waiver amendment.

“After discussions with consumers, providers and other stakeholders, we have decided to take additional time to incorporate stakeholder feedback,” Secretary Bruffett said.

“We want to ensure that we have the details of how waiver integration will work firmly in place before we move ahead,” Secretary Mosier said. “We want our consumers to be confident that their concerns have been addressed."

“The purpose of waiver integration – which includes broadening the array of services available to truly personalize care plans – has not changed, but we have extended the time period for accomplishing it,” Secretary Bruffett said.

The additional six months means the agencies now have a target date of Jan. 1, 2017, for implementation.

KDHE is the State Medicaid Agency, and KDADS administers seven individual home- and community-based services Medicaid waivers for individuals with physical disabilities, intellectual and developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injury and autism, those with a need for technology assistance, youth with a serious emotional disturbance and the frail elderly. Currently, there is a specific list of services provided under each individual waiver.

The 1115 amendment, if approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, would allow the state to provide a more comprehensive set of waiver services to consumers, where needed, regardless of the particular disability that qualified a recipient for these services.

Oral Health focus of November conference

The Oral Health Kansas’ 2015 Conference focuses on oral health equity... creating a system of care that serves everyone.  The conference will feature two leading oral health researchers in nutrition and nursing as keynote speakers.

On November 13, Oral Health Kansas is putting oral health equity front and center. Christie Custodio-Lumsden, PhD, MS, RD, CDN from Columbia University will examine social and economic conditions that must be in place to create a dental system that serves all people. Following her presentation will be case studies highlighting Kansas programs making a difference. ADA’s recent release of its report on oral health equity will add even more substance to the dialogue.

November 14’s course focuses on one population that definitely requires specialized oral health care: individuals with dementia. Rita Jablonski-Jaudon is a professor of nursing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who has dedicated her career to improving the oral health of older adults. Besides having years of research to present, she is always an enthusiastic and dynamic presenter. Given the current attention to elder care, this seminar will provide lots of practical guidance participants can use immediately.

The conference brochure and registration materials available on the Oral Health Kansas website. Special early bird rates are available through October 19, and up to 8.5 continuing education credits are available.