Population Resource Center

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Expanding Family Planning Services for Men and Women in Virginia

Mar. 27, 2007

In December 2006 the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) submitted a renewal application for their Family Planning Medicaid waiver. The renewal will allow Virginia to expand eligibility for family planning services to men and women whose income is equal to or less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Their original waiver covered women with a Medicaid pregnancy, limiting the number of eligible women, but making it easy to identify women eligible for family planning services. If a woman delivered a baby under Medicaid, she was eligible for family planning services.

Richmond, VA
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
WELCOME: Juliane Baron, Associate Director of Washington, DC Office, Population Resource Center

PANELISTS:

"Family Planning Program Taskforce"
Ashley Barton, Maternal and Child Health Care Coordinator, Department of Medical
Assistance Services..

"PlanFirst: Alabama’s 1115 Family Planning Medicaid Waiver"
Annie Vosel, Alabama Plan First Manager, Alabama Department of Public Health

CO-SPONSOR: Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services
ATTENDEES: (25)
• The Virginia Department of Social Services

• Virginia Department of Health (VDH) - BabyCare programs, Healthy Start Programs, Partners in Prevention, Title X clinics, and the Children with Special Health Care Needs programs;

• The Department of Mental Health Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services;

• Physician offices, clinics and in hospitals, Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse Midwives;

• Local Health Department Clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Rural Health Clinics, case management;

• Medicaid PCCM and managed care organizations.

PANNEL DISCUSSION:

The expanded coverage is a great opportunity for Virginia, but successfully expanding services requires DMAS to develop new outreach efforts to reach newly eligible men and women. Outreach efforts must include building new relationships with community-based partners and developing new print and media materials. Virginia also needs to develop strategies to provide services to newly eligible men and women. PRC brought together state agencies and community partners able to support outreach efforts to listen to the Alabama Waiver manager who has been extremely successful enrolling people in her state and seeing that they actually receive services. Without effective outreach, eligible Virginians will, unnecessarily, go without family planning services.

PRESENTATIONS:

Ashley Barton, Family Planning Program Taskforce

Annie Vosel, PlanFirst: Alabama’s 1115 Family Planning Medicaid Waiver