By Sue Schettle, CEO
The Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) members assembled on Thursday, January 16 at the University of St. Thomas for our 6th meeting. As a reminder, the charge of the BRC states that by October 1, 2020, the Commissioner shall develop and present to the legislature and the Governor an action plan for "transforming the health and human services system to improve program efficiencies, produce savings, and promote better outcomes for Minnesotans."
The BRC sought public input late last year and nearly 300 strategies were submitted by various individuals and stakeholders, from all segments of the population. On behalf of our members, ARRM submitted five proposed strategies.
At our meeting last week, the BRC got its first look at a pared down list of 47 strategies, which will be evaluated by the BRC in the first half of 2020. They break out as follows:
- 17 cost saving strategies in three main categories (health care, LTSS and supports for people with disabilities, and LTSS for older adults)
- 6 program integrity and waste reduction strategies
- 6 administrative efficiencies and program simplification strategies
- 6 health equity strategies
- 12 transformation strategies
We spent a couple of hours discussing the first four health care strategies under the cost savings category, which included expanding the DHS encounter alerting service (EAS), non-emergent medical transportation efficiencies, DME and supplies rate reform, and volume purchasing. BRC members provided feedback and we used this time to refine the process for how we move forward with the remaining 43 strategies.
Although the community engagement plan is not completely baked out yet, I am confident that we will see a more finalized plan of action at our next meeting on February 6th.
2019 was all about setting the foundation for the work ahead. 2020 will be intense I suspect. I'll keep you updated about the ways you can weigh in on the 47 strategies.