AOC Executive Director Dr. Gina Nikkel, Ph.D. will speak on a White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) webinar on September 27 that will focus on developing and applying for an 1115 waiver from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). During this webinar she will share Oregon’s process and discuss how Oregon would utilize the waiver if it were approved by CMS.
“The Association of Oregon Counties is focused on using the lessons and momentum of our joint pandemic response to grow the state-county partnership and begin to clear away some long-standing roadblocks in the system, like the Medicaid inmate exclusion policy,” Gina said.
The webinar will also include remarks from ONDCP Director Dr. Rahul Gupta and Sheriff Koutoujian from Middlesex County, Massachusetts as well as insights from California’s approved 1115 waiver.
“On January 26, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), approved a first-of-its-kind Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) section 1115 demonstration amendment in California, which will connect justice-involved people in jails and prisons with community-based Medicaid providers 90 days before their release to ensure continuity of care upon return to the community. For those that meet certain criteria, the demonstration will permit the use of federal Medicaid dollars for certain physical and behavioral health care treatment and community services to address health-related social needs,” NACo reported in February of this year.
Oregon is in the process of implementing a number of new 1115 waiver benefits, including for justice-involved individuals in jails and prisons. Acting Oregon Health Authority Director Dave Baden is engaging with the Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) during that process in order to incorporate the expertise of local human services system partners. His July presentation to the LGAC lays out the current thinking and timeline for new benefit implementation.
Contributed by: Jessica Pratt | Legislative Affairs Manager