Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health Friday Notes July 11,2014

  July, 11, 2014

In this issue:
State to Temporarily Continue Providing Plan First Coverage
Michigan Health Endowment Fund Listening Tour Starts July 21
Comments Due on Title V Priorities
Study: NFP Reduces Preventable Death Among Mothers, Children

State to Temporarily Continue Providing Plan First Coverage

Due to a temporary agreement reached in the federal case Dozier v. Haveman, thousands of low-income Michigan women will continue to receive Plan First! coverage. Attorneys for the Michigan Department of Community Health (DCH) and Department of Human Services (DHS) and attorneys for the Center for Civil Justice, which represents women challenging the cutoff of their Plan First! Medicaid benefits, reached the agreement after the Center filed suit last month.

In February DCH announced the ending of Plan First! effective June 30, with the stated rationale that most of the women would be covered under the Healthy Michigan plan. MCMCH and other advocates voiced strong opposition to the decision, noting that thousands of women would likely still be without coverage at that time because they either did not apply for or elected to forgo Healthy Michigan or private coverage.

The Center for Civil Justice filed a lawsuit on June 23 against DCH and DHS for their failure to determine the eligibility of women enrolled in the Plan First! program for other, but more comprehensive, Medicaid programs - such as the Healthy Michigan Plan - before terminating their Plan First! coverage.

According to the agreement, the state will continue to provide coverage for Plan First! family planning services to thousands of low-income women who had been slated to lose benefits on on July 1. Dozier v. Haveman challenges DCH's and DHS's failure to determine if low-income women are eligible for other Medicaid benefits before cutting off their Plan First! coverage of family planning services. The lawsuit also challenges the notices sent to these women for failing to contain necessary information required under federal law. The lawsuit requests class action status to provide relief for all affected women.

The temporary extension of Plan First! Medicaid coverage applies to women who were, as of April 1 of this year, enrolled in Plan First! or may have been enrolled in Plan First! after April 1. The extension of benefits will continue until the federal court rules on the preliminary motions in the lawsuit. A hearing on these preliminary motions is set to be scheduled for late July. You can read MSA Bulletin issued about the temporary extension here.

DCH has sent the bulletin to providers informing them of this temporary extension and providers and advocates are asked to pass this information along to their clients who applied for comprehensive Medicaid, but were wrongly denied. DCH also sent notices to those women they believe are eligible for continued Plan First! coverage.

MCMCH members: if you know of a woman or women whose Plan First! coverage was expected to end on June 30, 2014 and who may be eligible for more comprehensive Medicaid, but has/have not yet applied for more comprehensive Medicaid, please contact Katie Linehan at the Center for Civil Justice at (810) 244-8044 to discuss outreach strategies.

___________________________________________________________________________

Michigan Health Endowment Fund Listening Tour Starts July 21

Board members of the new Michigan Health Endowment Fund will be conducting a listening tour to gain a better understanding of the health issues confronting state residents and to familiarize the public with the fund.

The tour is expected to include six sessions and will start on July 21, 1-3pm, at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing, Remaining sessions will be held throughout the state. You can register to attend the East Lansing session here and see an agenda for the meeting.

In 2013, the Michigan Health Endowment Fund was created through passage of Public Act 4 of 2013, which authorized certain changes to how Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) operates in the state. The law required the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to be established as a separate, non-profit corporation, and directed BCBSM to contribute up to $1.56 billion to the fund over a period of 18 years.

The fund's purpose is to benefit the health and wellness of Michigan residents with significant focus on children and seniors throughout the state. Priority areas include infant mortality, wellness and fitness programs, access to healthy food, technology enhancements, health-related transportation needs, and food borne illness prevention.

The Michigan Health Endowment Fund board is organizing operations and will be developing a granting strategy in the near future.

The listening tour sessions will be an opportunity for participants to respond to questions about health concerns in their community, the barriers preventing people from achieving good health, and approaches that are working well to improve the health and well-being of children and the elderly. Requests for funding are not being accepted at this time.

Information and registration instructions for the five remaining sessions will be posted on the Michigan Health Endowment Fund website as soon as dates and locations are confirmed.

___________________________________________________________________________

Comment on Draft Title V MCH Block Grant Application Due July 14

The Department of Community Health annually submits to the U. S, Department of Health and Human Services an application for funding for services to pregnant women, mothers, children, and children with special health care needs. The application includes the identification of ten state priorities, a plan for services for the period October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015, and a report on services provided in 2013.

The ten priorities identified for 2011-2016 are:

Increase the proportion of intended pregnanciesIncrease the proportion of Children's Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) population that has access to a medical home and integrated care planning.Reduce obesity in children, including children with special health care needs, and women of child-bearing ageAddress environmental issues (asthma, lead poisoning, and second-hand smoke) affecting children, youth and pregnant womenReduce African American and Native American  infant mortality ratesDecrease the rate of sexually transmitted diseases among youth 15-24 years of ageReduce intimate partner and sexual violenceIncrease access to early intervention and developmental screening within the context of a medical home for children.Increase access to dental care for pregnant women and children, including children with special health care needsReduce discrimination in health care services in publicly funded programs

A summary document and the complete draft application can be viewed on the Department's website. Any and all comments should be sent to Carol Ogan by July 14, 2014.

___________________________________________________________________________

Study: NFP Reduces Preventable Death Among Mothers, Children

A study published by JAMA Pediatrics found that Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) reduces preventable death among both low-income mothers and their first-born children living in disadvantaged, urban neighborhoods.

Beginning in 1990, this study enrolled low-income, primarily African-American mothers living in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Memphis, Tenn., and assessed maternal and child mortality for over two decades until 2011.

The study found NFP produced a significant reduction in preventable child death from birth until age 20. Children in the control group not receiving nurse-home visits had a mortality rate of 1.6% for preventable causes - including sleep-related deaths, unintentional injuries and homicide. There were zero preventable deaths among nurse-visited children.

Over the same two-decade period, mothers who received nurse-home visits had significantly lower rates of death for all causes compared to mothers not receiving nurse-home visits.

In Michigan, NFP serves families in Detroit through the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority (DWCHA) and in Berrien, Kent, Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Ingham, Oakland, Saginaw and Genesee Counties through local departments of public health. MDCH is the lead agency for Michigan's Nurse-Family Partnership. The NFP model is implemented as a part of the larger Michigan Home Visiting Initiative in collaboration with the Departments of Education and Human Services.

___________________________________________________________________________

Contributors to this Issue Center for Civil Justice HealthDay MDCH __________________________________________________________

Quick Links . . .

Detroit News Article Looks at Maternal Mortality

The Detroit News had an article this week-Detroit's maternal death rate triple the nation's-that discussed the medical conditions and social toxins that contribute not only to the city's poor infant mortality rate, but to its high maternal mortality rate.

___________________________________________________________________________

SCHA-MI 10th Anniversary Annual Conference July 24- 25 at Shanty Creek

SCHA-MI will hold its annual conference at the Lakeview Hotel and Conference Center at Shanty Creek, in Bellaire, July 24-25. Discounted hotel rates have been extended to July 14; contact Shanty Creek at (800) 678-4111.

The mission of SCHA-MI is to improve and advocate for the health and educational outcomes for children and youth by advancing school-based and school-linked health care. The conference features 15 cutting-edge educational workshops and a special keynote address with Dr. Chris Belcher. Online registration is available here.

___________________________________________________________________________

Northern Michigan Perinatal Summit July 23

Northern Michigan will host a perinatal summit on July 23 at the Grand Traverse Resort. The regional Perinatal Summit for northern lower Michigan continues the efforts initiated in 2010 to move perinatal care in the region into a strongly integrated system focused on maternal, infant, and perinatal services.

Participants will be able to describe evidence-based medical management of perinatal patients and infants throughout the perinatal periods of risk. More information, including registration, is available online here.

___________________________________________________________________________

Michigan Home Visiting Conference, August 5-7

The August 2014 Michigan Home Visiting Conference will be held August 5-7 at the Adoba Hotel in Dearborn. The conference is designed for home visitors, administrators and parents in Michigan's home visiting programs. The purpose of the conference is to increase knowledge of home visiting models, ways to enhance home visiting practices to specifically address family needs, and to increase knowledge and skills on how to use quality improvement methods to achieve change. The conference objectives for participants are to be able to 1) describe the most commonly implemented home visiting models within Michigan, 2) discuss how family experience and trauma can impact very young children in later life, and 3) discuss the impact of health equity, health pathways, early programming, and cumulative stress on women's and families' health. More information, including online registration, is available here.

___________________________________________________________________________

Save the Date: Conference on Effects of Toxic Stress, Trauma on Young Children September 23

"The Effects of Toxic Stress & Trauma on Young Children: A Community Wide Prevention Approach" will be held Tuesday, Sept. 23; 8:30am-4:15pm, at the Radisson Conference Center in Lansing.

The Michigan Department of Community Health Project LAUNCH Program & Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Program in partnership with Michigan Department of Human Services, Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health, MDCH Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Administration, Michigan Department of Education, Office of Great Start (pending), and Michigan Public Health Institute are offering a free conference to Michigan communities. The purpose is to increase knowledge of the effects of trauma and toxic stress on young children and the awareness of resources to develop a plan to educate and prevent trauma and toxic stress at the community level.

Communities are invited to develop a team of 3 to 5 decision makers to send to the conference that are willing to take the lead in bringing this information back to their community.  Suggestions for potential team members are leaders from the following local organizations:

Great Start CollaborativePublic Health DepartmentChild Abuse Neglect CouncilDepartment of Human ServicesCommunity Mental HealthSubstance Abuse programsHome Visiting ProvidersFamily CourtParent Leaders (support for parent liaisons will be available through MPHI, more info to come)

Registration information is forth coming. Questions can be directed to the following at MDCH: Mary Mueller (517) 373-4190 or MuellerM1@michigan.gov or Lin Dann (517) 335-9751 or DannL@michigan.gov.

___________________________________________________________________________

Survey Seeks Input on State's Infant and Toddler Priorities

Input from a wide variety of stakeholders is being sought to help determine and prioritize specific infant and toddler programs and services that will best support the goals laid out in the Office of Great Start's May 2013 report Great Start, Great Investment, Great Future: The Plan for Early Learning and Development in Michigan.

You can access the survey here.

This survey was created by ZERO TO THREE. It is a self-assessment tool to support the development of effective early childhood systems of care and education for infants and toddlers and was developed based on research on effective policies and practices.

While it is likely most people will not be able to speak to all of the statements in the survey, it is crucial that all perspectives are reflected in the results.

MCMCH members are strongly encouraged to respond to the survey as it will be one of the tools used to help determine prenatal-age 3 strategies for the FY 15-16 state budget and beyond.  We must ensure that the voices representing health services and healthy social-emotional development are heard.

___________________________________________________________________________

Forward email
This email was sent to ejankows@geneseeisd.org by info@mcmch.org |

Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy.

Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health | 221 N. Walnut Street | Lansing | MI | 48933