ST CROIX, USVI — The US Virgin Islands’ Healthcare Reform Implementation Task Force recently met at Government House, St Croix, to continue the progress in transforming healthcare in the territory by restructuring the delivery of primary care.
During the meeting, Acting Health Commissioner Darice Plaskett presented a new model for the direction of primary care in the territory and discussed the merits of the department‘s initiative to create a system that better coordinates the territory’s healthcare resources.
Improving the ways the territory delivers healthcare to residents has been a critical concern of the task force as it works to implement the relevant provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
According to Plaskett, the current healthcare system is focused on specialty services and interventions that have taken precedence over preventative healthcare services. Plaskett is advocating a shift to a more proactive and coordinated primary care system, thereby ensuring better quality, better outcomes, better cost-effectiveness and better health status.
The model is premised on the creation of a “patient centered medical home” at the Community Health Centers to improve the coordination and integration of healthcare among public and private healthcare agencies, to include the territory’s federally qualified health centers, private physicians and the hospitals, thereby improving cost effective access to care for all residents.
Plaskett is hopeful that the new model of coordinated care will also enhance the department’s primary care services and collection of mortality and morbidity data, which is critical to the receipt of federal funds.“Better collection of the territory’s health statistics will not only support our ability to apply for federal funds, but will allow us to provide targeted preventive services to address the identified leading health issues in the territory such as diabetes and heart disease,” Plaskett noted.
Expanding access to healthcare is a common concern of the agencies involved in the task force. Human Services Commissioner Christopher Finch discussed his agency’s projected Medicaid expansion. Finch reported that federal eligibility guidelines often restrict access to the program.
The Department of Human Services recently became the territory’s access point for Medicaid, meaning that all Medicaid applicants, beneficiaries and vendors will now go through the DHS instead of the DOH, which previously administered the program. This move advances the territory’s implementation of a joint eligibility system for residents receiving assistance through the Departments of Health and Human Services. By creating one portal for application to SNAP, MAP, and TANF, the territory hopes to reduce incidences of fraud and provide more effective service to the user public.
The task force also received updates on the status of various projects being undertaken by agencies participating in the task force. Representatives from the Department of Human Services informed the group that the MMIS, or medical management information system, is on target for implementation.Task Force Coordinator Taetia Phillips-Dorsett reported that studies are underway to determine the feasibility of a health insurance exchange and are progressing on schedule. She also noted that the phase i telephone survey for the private insurance market analysis, or assessment of the health insurance needs of the local population, began on October 22 and is about 20% complete. The vendor, Value Advisory Group, has been contracted to randomly sample 2,000 households through a telephone survey, and conduct focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders, to include insurance companies, small business owners and medical providers as part of a marketplace analysis.
John Abramson, chairman of the Government Employees Service Commission (GESC), which negotiates health insurance and other benefits for government employees, briefly discussed the recent increase in health insurance premiums for government retirees. Abramson said other insurance vendors were more expensive, and did not cover the range of benefits currently available through CIGNA. He discussed the options available to retirees and noted that while some were less expensive, CIGNA offers greater benefits to its users. Abramson committed to more public education regarding the health insurance increase.
Lieutenant Governor Gregory Francis, chairman of the task force and the territory’s Commissioner of Insurance, praised the task force for its hard work in improving the quality of healthcare related services available to the US Virgin Islands community.
“I appreciate task force members’ commitment to working together not only to advance these meaningful initiatives, but to meet the January 2014 implementation date for many of the Affordable Care Act mandates,” Francis said.
Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen was also present at the meeting.
The next task force meeting will be held later this month at Government House on St Thomas.
