Welcome to the April/May 2003 issue of the Center for Health Care Strategies' Consumer Action e-Newsletter. In this e-newsletter, consumer organizations and other interested parties can learn about best practice activities in expanding access to health care delivery systems and improving consumer participation in the design, implementation, and monitoring of publicly financed managed care programs. Please pass this e-newsletter on to your colleagues. Visit www.chcs.org for more information about the topics covered in this newsletter. Please contact ch@chcs.org to subscribe or unsubscribe.

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CONTENTS:

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1. Publications

2. Web Resources

3. Grant Update

4. Project Spotlight

5. Quick Links

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1. Publications

Limitations in Medicare Managed Care Options for Integration with Medicaid
Tumlinson, Reester, and Missmar
<http://www.chcs.org/publications/index.html#limitations>

Coming Soon:

Review of the Literature Regarding Community Integration: Services Necessary for Individuals with Disabilities to Live in their Own Homes

Cox, Rosenbaum, and Stewart

For all CHCS publications, visit http://www.chcs.org/publications/index.html

2. Web Resources

MaineCare Managed Care: Consumer Survival Handbook

Developed by CHCS Consumer Action Seed Grantee, Consumers for Affordable Health Care Foundation, the handbook provides an at-a-glance overview of Medicaid for beneficiaries. http://www.chcs.org/resource/pdf/consumer_survival.pdf

For all CHCS Resources, visit <http://www.chcs.org/resource/index.html>

3. Grant Update

Massachusetts Medicaid Agency develops Member Education Team, Due to Work by Consumer Action Seed Grantee Community Partners

Realizing that community-based outreach workers and staff in providers' offices work with the same people and deal with the same issues, Community Partners, a consumer organization in Berkshire, Massachusetts, held a series of discussion groups to determine how the two groups could work together to assist consumers in navigating the health care system. The summary report piqued the interest of the state, and this past winter, it created a Member Education Team focusing on post-enrollment issues and utilization. Despite current budget pressures, this initiative is moving forward. http://www.compartners.org/access/mbe/provider_groups.pdf

Community Partners also developed Getting There from Here: Using a Health Access Continuum Model to Connect Medicaid/SCHIP Members to Care, to chart the steps necessary for helping a person without health insurance coverage move from eligibility through enrollment to care. http://www.compartners.org/access/mbe/getting_there_from_here.pdf

4. Project Spotlight

LA Cares for Kids through Outreach and Care Coordination

LA Care Health Plan, serving more than 800,000 beneficiaries in Los Angeles County, is piloting a primary care project to identify and provide outreach and comprehensive health care coordination services for at-risk children. Using ideas garnered from the Best Clinical and Administrative Practices toolkit, Toward Improving Birth Outcomes, LA Care staff created a model to address member outreach and intervention for children under the supervision of the Los Angeles County DCFS Family Maintenance program.

For the full story, visit http://www.chcs.org/spotlight/2003April.html

5. Quick Links

CHCS Home Page http://www.chcs.org/

CHCS Consumer Action http://www.chcs.org/ConsumerAction/index.html

CHCS Resource Center http://www.chcs.org/resource/index.html

CHCS Grant Information http://www.chcs.org/grantinfo/index.html

CHCS Project Spotlight http://www.chcs.org/spotlight/index.html

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Subscribe to Additional CHCS e-Newsletters

In addition to the Consumer Action e-Newsletter, CHCS publishes the

following e-newsletters:

-- BCAP e-Newsletter: Bi-monthly newsletter reporting on Medicaid/SCHIP plan best practice quality initiatives.

-- Purchasing Institute e-Newsletter: Bi-monthly newsletter for state purchasers of Medicaid and SCHIP managed care.

-- CHCS Monthly Topics: Monthly newsletter with information about new CHCS activities.

To subscribe to any of these newsletters, e-mail ch@chcs.org and specify which e-newsletter(s) you are requesting.

To unsubscribe from the list, please send a message to majordomo@listbox.com, with "unsubscribe consumeractionenews" in the body of the message.

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The Center for Health Care Strategies promotes high quality health care services for low-income populations and people with chronic illnesses and disabilities. CHCS achieves this objective through training, technical assistance, and grant making to state purchasers of publicly financed health care, health plans, and consumer groups. Its program priorities are: improving quality, reducing racial and ethnic disparities, and increasing community options for people with disabilities.