For help with health insurance call (509) 340-9008. Individuals can also contact the Health Benefit Exchange Customer Support Center at 1-855-923-4633; TTY: 1-855-627-9604.
Read MoreOn its tenth anniversary, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is helping our state provide health care during a pandemic.
Being at the center of the COVID-19 pandemic shows how critical it is for Washington State to have a strong health system. A virus does not discriminate, and we need everyone, regardless of their income, to be able to access health care to keep us all safe.
Passed by Congress 10 years ago this week, the ACA has helped 600,000 uninsured Washingtonians get health coverage and care. While there’s not a lot for health care providers to celebrate right now, we do want to honor this anniversary and stand strong to protect the ACA.
The Affordable Care Act enabled Washington State to significantly expand Medicaid coverage, greatly increasing health care access and resources. This has been particularly important for access to dental care as the number of Medicaid-insured adults accessing dental care each year has more than doubled since the state expanded Medicaid. In total, our state’s expanded health care safety net now provides health care to more than 1.7 million patients.
The ACA has also increased access to health services that are critical in addressing our state’s homelessness and opioid crises. The ACA created more funding for mental health and substance use treatment, and rural hospitals have been able to remain open thanks to Medicaid expansion.
Better Health Together launched the Navigator network in 2013 with the audacious goal of enrolling 10,000 participants in qualified healthcare plans. Within the first two years, the Network dramatically exceeded this number, enrolling more than 100,000 participants. Because of this work, more than 96% of our Eastern Washington region now has insurance coverage.
Our network’s tremendous success comes from the web of diverse partners connected across our region. This vast network of partners, which represents many sectors has reached population segments including un/underinsured people, older adults, people with disabilities, low-income individuals and families, people experiencing homelessness, foster youth, prison and re-entry populations, people with limited English proficiency, migrant workers, small businesses, rural populations, and the region’s diverse racial/ethnic populations.
Unfortunately, the ACA has been under attack for the past several years. Federal threats to weaken it put millions of people at risk of losing access to health care. But the fact is that people depend on coverage provided by the ACA. Global health care emergencies such as the coronavirus show how much our health is connected to everyone around us. Washington State policymakers must protect the advances gained through the ACA to ensure that everyone in our state can access health care, keeping us all safer.
The BHT team is trying to be mindful of what is happening in our community and not unnecessarily burden our organizational partners during this time. We fully expect that most, if not all, of our Transformation work together will pause as you redirect your resources toward addressing the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read MoreCoordinated Care’s telehealth service, Teladoc, is available at no cost to their members, 24-hours a day and all Teladoc providers are in the Coordinated Care network.
Read MoreAs coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread, for the safety of our staff, as well as our partners and the communities we serve, Better Health Together has decided to implement the recommendation for social distancing. On Monday, March 16, the following protocols will go into effect for BHT…
Read MoreOn March 5th, BHT finalized our Pay-for-Equity Menu. Organizations who completed our Equity Assessment now have the opportunity to commit to a Pay-for-Equity item that they will implement in their organization. Committing to an activity earns additional financial assistance from BHT, as well as 8 hours of free Technical Assistance from our Equity TA Bank, made up of consultants who can offer trainings and facilitation to support your equity work.
Partners will be invited to select an activity via survey in early April. As a reminder for Partnering Providers, this is a requirement in your contract.
BHT will be updating our website soon to add an Equity page where we can list resources and information about our TA partners – stay tuned for that reveal!
In 2019, BHT contracted with Xpio to do an HIE assessment for our region. The report shares detailed findings for data and technology, process, and knowledge.
Read MoreWe are proud of the great proposals that we received. BHT is working to formalize partnerships with six organizations that have the potential to be funded for 2 years. The projects selected will touch across housing, food, transportation, education, primary, and behavioral health settings.
Read MoreSee summaries of notable Technical Council activities for February 1–29, 2020.
News and updates from the Navigator team, including the dates for this year’s open enrollment.
Read MoreBHT wrote the Spokane City Council members in support of the changes to the noise ordinance being considered on Monday, March 2, 2020. Please see the letter, copied below.
RE: Proposed Noise Ordinance to Protect Health Care Facilities
Dear City Council Members:
We support the proposed changes before City Council give the City of Spokane greater authority to enforce the City’s noise ordinance and protect health care patients and staff.
As the Accountable Community of Health (ACH) organization responsible for the Medicaid Transformation efforts in Eastern Washington, BHT is charged with implementing efforts to improve the health of our region. For the past five years, we’ve connected, convened, and financially supported health care providers in our region to accomplish this goal.
We strongly believe that reproductive health care is health care. Better Health Together is proud to partner with Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho to improve the health of our Spokane community. In addition to the critical work they do for reproductive health, in the last year Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho has expanded to offer mental health services, a severe shortage in our community, as well as increased primary care services.
City Council member Lori Kinnear’s ordinance to address noise at health care facilities will help protect the health and safety of our community members accessing health care in Spokane. The proposed changes before City Council give the City of Spokane greater authority to enforce the City’s noise ordinance and a private right of action for impacted staff and patients.
Thank you for your consideration,
Alison Poulsen
Executive Director
Better Health Together
Opportunities for providers to observe ECHO sessions related to offering MAT and pain management
Read MoreCurious about how BHT scored on the Organizational Equity Assessment? Read how we did and what we plan to do with the information.
Read MoreAlison talks about our organizational journey to explore what we mean by “health equity” and how we could make it actionable.
Read MoreExciting things are happening at all our rural Collaboratives! All counties have their inequity identified as well as their target population and have outlined strategies to tackle the work. Click on the link to see the important work they have planned.
Read MoreSee summaries of notable Technical Council activities for January 1–31, 2020.
BHT welcomes ADEPT Behavioral Health, Compassionate Addiction Treatment Center, and Volunteers of America to our Network!
Since 2014, BHT has been the Lead Organization of our region’s Navigator Network. Over 130 Navigators from more than 20 organizations make up the network, which spans seven counties in Eastern Washington. The Navigators assist all customers with health insurance needs like enrollment, renewals, program eligibility, and document submission.
As the lead org, BHT provides the Network’s Navigators with semi-annual training, technical assistance, and general insurance advice. BHT has led this network of Navigators through seven open enrollment periods. In 2019, our Network assisted over 21,000 customers with their insurance applications. BHT would like to congratulate our Network partners for their efforts.
Navigator Network Organizations
Information about the timeline, workshops, and Transformation Plan templates for January Cohort Year 2 contracting.
Read MoreThe Health Care Authority (HCA), in partnership with Manatt, has released a Value-based Purchasing (VBP) Resource Catalog. The purpose of this resource is to connect partners to available VBP visioning documents, technical assistance, and other relevant information. The HCA says this is a starting point and foundational set of resources, especially for providers who have been less engaged in VBP discussions to-date. This is not meant to replace other VBP support mechanisms and resources but may inform future efforts.
See summaries of notable Technical Council and Board activities and decisions for December 1–31, 2019.
