What You Should Know:
– By connecting healthcare and community service providers on a single statewide technology platform, this new service promises to streamline the referral process, foster easier access to vital services, and provide confirmation when social services are delivered.
– The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Arizona’s state Medicaid agency, launched its Whole Person Care Initiative (WPCI) to focus on the social factors that have an impact on individual health and well-being, such as housing, employment, criminal justice, non-emergency transportation, and home and community-based services interventions. As part of the WPCI strategy, AHCCCS partnered with Health Current to implement a technology solution that can support providers, health plans, community-based organizations (CBOs), and community stakeholders in meeting the social service needs of Arizonans.
Health advocates welcomed Monday's reopening of enrollment for Affordable Care Act coverage for the next 90 days, saying the opportunity for more people to get or renew their health insurance could be "really good for Arizona."
At Monday’s meeting of the Arizona House Health and Human Services Committee, members heard testimony in favor of a bill that would add spina bifida to the list of developmental disabilities. Concerns emerged regarding unclarified details of the bill and its potentially hefty price tag.
House Bill 2540’s sponsor, Rep. Jennifer Longdon, says spina bifida leads to harmful developmental delays. Including spina bifida on the list of developmental disabilities would make individuals with spina bifida eligible for crucial medical support, she said. Currently, children with spina bifida stop receiving support from the Department of Developmental Disabilities after age six.
Northern Arizona Council of Governments
Some of the older adults that the Northern Arizona Council of Governments serves.
Many older adults who live in more rural parts of Arizona are struggling to schedule an appointment for the coronavirus vaccine. Access to technology is a big part of it, and so is transportation. Many of these seniors are also homebound, and there are concerns they are being left behind in the vaccine rollout.
Roger Carignan is finally getting his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. His son, who lives with him, booked the appointment last week.
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