Anthem Blue Cross Medi-Cal is partaking in a new effort to coordinate care for some of California’s most vulnerable residents.
Medi-Cal’s Health Homes Program will provide eligible members with a point of contact who will coordinate their care. This includes not only health services, but also transportation to medical appointments, help understanding medication, links to community services, and more.
The program aims to reach beneficiaries “with multiple chronic conditions or severe mental illness who have frequent hospital or emergency room visits, or who are homeless and may benefit from enhanced care management and coordination,” Anthem Blue Cross said in an announcement on Monday. The program will be free for eligible members.
Health Homes Programs are not new; they have been an option for states since the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010. But California’s focus will be unique, Medi-Cal spokesperson Anthony Cava told FierceHealthcare.
“California has a definite focus on frequent utilizers, behavioral health and members experiencing homelessness, and we have designed the program so it has every chance of being cost-effective and sustainable,” he said.
California also sought to meet its population’s diverse needs when designing the program.
“We have some flexibility in our delivery model to address differences in various areas of California, but services and service level requirements are standardized,” Cava wrote in an e-mail.
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This effort will be collaborative rather than competitive, according to Jill Donnelly, program manager of special programs at Anthem Blue Cross Medi-Cal.
“In each county, we have the opportunity to partner with other Medi-Cal plans to streamline program requirements for the clinics we work with so that they can focus their efforts on serving patients,” she said.
Anthem Blue Cross Medi-Cal is one of California’s largest Medicaid managed care plans, currently serving more than 780,000 beneficiaries.