The Funding Supports Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports
LOS ANGELES — L.A. Care Health Plan is proud to announce that is has committed $14,426,430 in CalAIM Incentive Payment Program (IPP) funding to 64 providers offering Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports. Funding was awarded to providers to help them develop the infrastructure necessary to deliver Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports, as well as to allow them to build capacity through technology upgrades and recruitment, hiring and training of new staff.
Enhanced Care Management addresses the clinical and non-clinical needs of the highest-need members through intensive coordination of health and health-related services. Community Supports include help with housing, recuperative care and medically tailored meals for L.A. Care and Plan Partner members.
L.A. Care and its Plan Partners received funding from the California Department of Health Services (DHCS) to fulfill CalAIM requirements.
“California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal, or CalAIM, is an ambitious, long-term effort to strengthen Medi-Cal, and the incentive payments the state gave to participating health plans is critical,” said John Baackes, L.A. Care CEO. “We recognize that health care is more than a plastic card in a wallet, and this initiative will address the social needs that are found outside a doctor’s office. The payments mean providers will get the support they need to ensure CalAIM succeeds in offering more equitable and coordinated care.”
Serene Health received funding to increase their capacity to provide Enhanced Care Management for members across LA County.
“The IPP funding has helped us to hire additional lead care managers, so that we can expand the reach of our services to help the more chronically ill members in the communities we serve,” said Kirlos Guerguis, MBA, DBA, Chief Operating Officer of Serene Health. “These lead care managers coordinate care for high utilizers, individuals experiencing homelessness, adults with serious mental Illness or substance use disorder, and health outcomes have improved.”
Another provider to receive IPP funding is 24 Hour Home Care, and it allowed the company to translate its materials into 14 languages.
“Driving health equity and culturally-competent access to services is key to our core mission of ‘impacting lives by making a difference every day,’” said April Stewart, Director of Government Relations for 24 Hour Home Care. “We saw an early opportunity with CalAIM Community Supports to meet our goal of extending access to the low-income populations we serve, many of whom are dealing with lifelong disabilities, acute care needs, and aging in place.”
Of the 64 IPP applications approved by L.A. Care, 36 requested funding for Community Supports and 48 requested funding for Enhanced Care Management.