Affordable Care Act

/Affordable Care Act

State Health Assessment & Arizona Health Improvement Plan

By | January 9th, 2015|Affordable Care Act, Behavioral Health, Preparedness, Prevention|

To better understand the health status of Arizona's population, we partnered with the county health departments to conduct Community Health Assessments in 2014.  We used the Community Health Assessments to develop a comprehensive State Health Assessment, which became basis for putting together an Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP). We began developing the AzHIP in late [...]

AZ’s Sliding Fee Scale Healthcare Clinic Finder

By | August 4th, 2014|Affordable Care Act|

Arizonans who don’t have health insurance still a way of getting affordable healthcare at one of Arizona’s 354 Sliding Fee Schedule health clinics.  These clinics offer discounted fees for services to persons without health insurance.  Our Bureau of Health Systems Development just updated the current list of primary care, dental or behavioral healthcare providers by [...]

Comments Off on AZ’s Sliding Fee Scale Healthcare Clinic Finder

National Audit: Room for Improvement at Skilled Nursing Facilities

By | March 6th, 2014|Affordable Care Act, Licensing|

Data collection and analysis is public health’s most valuable  renewable resource- which is why we’ve made data analysis such a high priority.  Yesterday, the Office of the Inspector General for HHS published a document that highlights the fact that disciplined data analyses can identify key factors that result in poor outcomes- giving us the information [...]

Border Bi-national Public Health

By | June 18th, 2013|Affordable Care Act, General|

You can think of the border public health advocacy network as a bi-national matrix of public health partners that collaborate to improve conditions along the US-Mexico border.  The network includes national organizations like the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission along with state based partnerships like the Arizona-Mexico Commission and the annual Border Governor’s Conference.    As part of my job [...]

Comments Off on Border Bi-national Public Health

Employee Wellness Standards Locked In

By | June 11th, 2013|Affordable Care Act, General|

The Fed’s issued their final regulations for worksite wellness programs under the Affordable Care Act this week.  The final rules are designed to incentivize workplaces to develop and execute health promotion programs.  The goal is to improve health and wellness among workers and to limit growth of health care costs moving forward.  The regulations outline [...]

Comments Off on Employee Wellness Standards Locked In

Smokers Cost Employers $6K More

By | June 10th, 2013|Affordable Care Act, Prevention|

A new Ohio State University study found smokers cost businesses about $6,000 more than nonsmokers every year.  The researchers used the cost of increased absenteeism, lost productivity, smoke breaks and health care  to reach the $6K/year figure – not surprisingly, smoke breaks account for the biggest share of the cost.  More and more businesses are creating stronger worksite wellness programs.  Arizona, for example, has [...]

Comments Off on Smokers Cost Employers $6K More

“Navigator” Standards Proposed by CMS

By | April 11th, 2013|Affordable Care Act|

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a proposed rule this week establishing proposed  “Navigator” standards under the Affordable Care Act.  Navigators are organizations that will be providing information to consumers about health insurance, the new Health Insurance Marketplace, qualified health plans, and public programs.  In other words, Navigators will be providing assistance to [...]

Doctor Shortage – a Public Health Concern

By | January 30th, 2013|Affordable Care Act, General|

Public Health tracks the number of healthcare workers – physicians, dentists and psychiatrists – to make sure we have enough to take care of the community.  In Arizona we’ve been challenged to recruit and keep those professionals – and we have numerous Health Professional Shortage Areas.  Just to eliminate the current shortages, we’d need an [...]

New Affordable Care Act Proposed Rules Released

By | November 23rd, 2012|Affordable Care Act|

The US Dept. of Health & Human Services released 3 new Affordable Care Act proposed regulations this week…  including: 1) A proposed Rule regarding coverage requirements for pre-existing or chronic conditions; 2) A proposed Rule outlining policies and standards for coverage of essential health benefits; and 3) A proposed Rule implementing and expanding employment-based wellness [...]

Comments Off on New Affordable Care Act Proposed Rules Released

Affordable Care Act Fact Sheets

By | November 7th, 2012|Affordable Care Act|

The Fed’s put out a series of pretty simple and easy to read 1-page fact sheets this week that summarize some of the aspects of the Affordable Care Act.  There are Fact Sheets for Families with Kids; Health Care Providers; Folks with Disabilities; Seniors; Small Business Owners; and Young Adults.  At the bottom of each [...]

Comments Off on Affordable Care Act Fact Sheets