State Innovation Model

Thursday, January 01, 2015 11:19 AM
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Colorado awarded $65 million health care innovation grant

by Kate Alfano, CMS contributing writer

The state of Colorado has been awarded a federal grant to create a coordinated, accountable system of care that gives Coloradans access to integrated primary care and behavioral health. Gov. John Hickenlooper announced on Dec. 16, 2014, that the state would receive $65 million in State Innovation Model (SIM) funding. Colorado will use the funding over the next four years to further develop a State Health Care Innovation Plan with a focus on improved integration of physical and behavioral health services.

“We understand the connections between mind and body, and integration of behavioral health with physical health services is a critical need for Colorado and our nation,” said Susan E. Birch, executive director for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), in a press release. “This grant will allow us to reach approximately 80 percent of our state’s residents to provide them with the support they need to move toward greater integration.”

The SIM initiative provides federal funding for states to develop and test their own state-based models for multi-payer payment and health care delivery system transformation. The initiative’s goal is to improve health system performance for residents of those states participating in the SIM project. Nearly $300 million has been awarded to 25 states to design or test improvements to their public and private health payment and delivery systems. The projects will be broad-based and focus on people enrolled in private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

The $65 million grant award builds on the $2 million planning grant Colorado received in 2013. In applying for the 2014 SIM funding, Colorado identified four major goals:

  • To create a coordinated, accountable system of care that gives Coloradans access to integrated primary care and behavioral health.
  • To leverage the power of our public health system to achieve broader population health goals and support delivery of care.
  • To use outcomes-based payments to enable transformation.
  • To engage individuals in their care.

The grant proposal was led by the governor’s office; the departments of Health Care Policy and Financing, Human Services, Public Health and Environment, Regulatory Agencies, and Personnel and Administration; and included input from more than 100 stakeholders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors representing governments, physical and behavioral health care providers, public and private payers, and advocates. HCPF will be the primary implementing state agency for the proposal.


Posted in: Colorado Medicine | Health System Reform
 

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