Spotlight

Upcoming All Tribes and Urban Indian Organizations Webinar:

Telehealth Development During the Public Health Emergency

Telehealth is the utilization of technology to provide health care services to patients.

Beginning March 6, 2020, Medicare announced several flexibilities related to the delivery and reimbursement of telehealth services that were not offered before the COVID-19 PHE. Medicaid’s approach to telehealth has always allowed for states to have broad flexibilities when it came to designing their state telehealth policies. However, due to the PHE, State Medicaid Agencies responded by making additional changes to their Medicaid and CHIP telehealth policies to ensure the patients were maintaining access to their health care providers.

Purpose: The webinar will highlight telehealth flexibilities during the PHE, recent data on utilization of telehealth services, policy changes that impact American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN), and future telehealth opportunities. Our presenter will also review CMS’ Medicaid Telehealth toolkit and supplemental toolkit, which features health resources to assist in navigating telehealth developments and flexibilities.

To view the CMS Medicaid Telehealth toolkit and supplemental toolkit, visit:  https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/benefits/downloads/medicaid-chip-telehealth-toolkit-supplement1.pdf

Open Enrollment is here!

The Open Enrollment Period for Medicare and Marketplace occurs annually and the time is now.  Don’t miss this opportunity add new coverage, or update your existing coverage.

• Explore your Medicare coverage options and pick your plan by December 7
• Explore your Marketplace coverage options and pick your plan by January 15

Have questions? No problem.  View a copy of the presentation from the All Tribes Consultation Webinar on Marketplace Open Enrollment

Resources

• For more information on health coverage for American Indians & Alaska Natives visit https://www.healthcare.gov/american-indians-alaska-natives/
• For information on what health care coverage is and how people can use it to stay well share our tribal version of Roadmap to Better Care (PDF)
• For more information on how enrolling in health care coverage benefits Native communities share our 10 Important Facts about Indian Health Service and Health Insurance (PDF)
• For more information on how Medicare can help with prescription drug costs share our Medicare Prescription Drug Plans brochure (PDF)

CMS Releases Connecting Kids to Coverage HEALTHY KIDS American Indian/Alaska Native 2023 Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreements Notice of Funding Opportunity

On Tuesday October 17, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Connecting Kids to Coverage (CKC) HEALTHY KIDS American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) 2023 Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreements Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).  The Outreach and Enrollment Cooperative Agreement program provides funding to reduce the number of AI/AN children who are eligible for, but not enrolled in, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and to improve retention of eligible children who are enrolled in the programs.  Eligibility for this NOFO is limited to the following eligible applicant entities, or coalitions headed by eligible entities:

1. Indian Health Service (IHS) Providers
2. Indian tribe, tribal consortium, Tribal organizations operating a health program under a contract or compact with the Indian Health Service under the Indian Self-Determination and Education (ISDEAA) (P.L. 93-638, as amended)
3. Urban Indian organizations operating a health program under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) (P.L. 94-437, as amended)

This funding will support innovative outreach strategies aimed at:

• increasing the enrollment and retention of eligible AI/AN children, parents, and pregnant individuals in Medicaid and CHIP,
• emphasizing activities tailored to communities where AI/AN children and families reside, and
• enlisting tribal and other community leaders and tribal health and social services programs that serve eligible AI/AN children and families.

Learn more here: https://link.edgepilot.com/s/6e0f45b9/UtfkSq6QiEW0QLH_c7gnxQ?u=https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html

Don't miss today's Conference Call for IHS, Tribes and Tribal organizations, and Urban Indian organizations interested in applying

• When: Nov 17, 2022 03:00 – 4:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
  Topic: HEALTHY KIDS AI/AN 2023 NOFO
  Register in advance for this webinar:  https://link.edgepilot.com/s/c398dd63/hY8UHSyvyEG5XlNu7LlZ2w?u=https://cms.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_flHCKVvpSgKF14_U-HI85Q

National American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month - Upcoming Events

Please Download this flyer and share with your community. (PDF)

2022-2023 Calendar 

CMS Tribal Affairs develops outreach materials and fact sheets on Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Health Insurance Marketplace, to educate and encourage enrollment of AI/ANs into these programs. We are pleased to announce the release of an 18^th month calendar, January 2022 to June 2023, featuring health information, website links to excellent resources, planning space for items applicable to your family, and other ways to improve your overall health.  The information in the calendar is intended to assist Tribal families in taking better control of their health, including enrollment in health coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Health Insurance Marketplace.

For more information about CMS Tribal Affairs outreach materials, visit http://go.cms.gov/AIAN-OutreachEducationResources.   To order the CMS Tribal 2022 -2023 calendar or any of our outreach materials, please visit our website at https://go.cms.gov/CMS-TribalProducts.   All materials are free and you can order as many as you need.

Please visit the CMS Tribal Affairs website to learn about upcoming webinars and training opportunities, at http://go.cms.gov/AIAN or if you need assistance or have questions, please email us at tribalaffairs@cms.hhs.gov.

We hope you enjoy the calendar!

Kitty Marx, Director

CMS Tribal Affairs

Do you or a family member currently have health coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)?

If so, you may soon need to take steps to find out if you can continue your coverage. Soon, states will resume Medicaid and CHIP eligibility reviews. This means some people with Medicaid or CHIP could be disenrolled from those programs. However, they may be eligible to buy a health plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace ®, and get help paying for it.

Here are some things you can do to prepare.

• Make sure your address is up to date.
• Make sure your state has your current mailing address, phone number, email, or other contact information. This way, they’ll be able to contact you about your Medicaid or CHIP coverage.

Get more information

• Contact your state Medicaid office or visit Medicaid.gov for more information about Medicaid or CHIP renewal.
• Call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596 to get details about Marketplace coverage. TTY users can call 1-855-889-4325.

Help spread the word to promote COVID-19 vaccination so we can reach community immunity.

We Can Do This. We’re working to promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence, encourage prevention, and support our partners’ efforts to reach their communities.

Through strong partnerships with tribes and urban Indian organizations across Indian Country, the Indian Health Service has administered more than 1 million COVID-19 vaccines in Native communities, but there is still more work to do to reach community immunity.

You can help by:

• AIAN Toolkit https://wecandothis.hhs.gov/aian-triabal-leaders-toolkit
• Sharing resources for American Indian and Alaska Native communities  .
• Joining the COVID-19 Community Corps   and receive weekly emails featuring tips, news, and resources to share with your community.
• Using new social media profile frames   to display your choice to get vaccinated and encourage your friends and family to do the same.