2018 Annual Conference Wrap-Up
This year's theme, The Next Era of Community Health, proved to be a great reflection of where we are going as an organization and the direction of our work. CPCA and our members continue to look to the future, at how we can be forward-thinking and stretch the boundaries of health care delivery -- making our communities healthier, stronger, and enriched.
CPCA CEO Receives 2018 Award of Merit from Yale Law School
CPCA’s CEO, Carmela Castellano-Garcia, received the 2018 Award of Merit from Yale Law School in a ceremony at the law school campus in New Haven on October 20th. She was joined by her parents, Alcario and Carmen, as well as her brother Armondo and sister-in-law Pricilla and her husband Angel Garcia along with close friends Felicia Strati and Jaime Chan. She was also joined by CPCA board member Jane Garcia, CEO of La Clinica de la Raza and a Board Member of The California Endowment. Jane is also a Yale alumni and a member of the first full class of women that were admitted to the school in 1971.
25th Anniversary Video Contest
We are excited to use the power of video to promote the impact, access, innovation, and value of California’s community health centers. Since 2016, we’ve been encouraging you to share your mission, your team, and the community you serve, through the use of visual storytelling. Now, we’re thrilled to offer health centers the chance to win some incredible prizes by participating in CPCA’s 25th Anniversary Video Contest: Beyond These Walls!
Immigration Update
CPCA and health center members have been immensely troubled by the tone of the national discussions on immigration, especially when they instill fear in our immigrant patients and keep them from accessing healthcare services and other lifesaving programs. As we approach the end of the Trump Administration’s second year, the attacks on our immigrant patients and communities have only increased, furtherer marginalizing this section of our population.
State Plan Amendment Update
CPCA has been in State Plan Amendment (SPA) discussions with the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) since the notice was released in December 2016. The original SPA notice included a relatively long list of items for the SPA and referenced “four walls,” code for services delivered outside of the four walls of a health center that may or may not be billed for at the PPS rate. It wasn’t until February 2018 that CPCA staff and health centers officially saw what DHCS was intending with the four walls reference. The draft SPA included nine new pages of language related to four walls, and they were nothing short of devastating for health centers and their patients.
Challenge to Receive Payment for Past Dental Claims Continues
Late this summer, California health centers prevailed in a long running legal challenge against the State. The Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Superior Court requiring that the Department of Health Care Services process and pay the claims of health centers that provided adult dental, podiatry, and chiropractic services during the period July 1, 2009 to September 26, 2013. Unfortunately, the State contends the dental lawsuit win only applies to named plaintiffs, not all FQHCs/RHCs and that the State will not agree to process and pay the claims of any health centers that were not named parties to the litigation.
CPCA welcomes new staff members
This fall, CPCA welcomed two new staff on our Health Center Operations Team.