The Aging and Disability Business Institute at the National Association for Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) and the National Council on Aging (NCOA) are pleased to announce that they have selected 11 community-based organizations (CBOs) and networks to participate in a Medicare Advantage Learning Collaborative (MALC) from an applicant pool of more than 100 well-qualified organizations.
The organizations selected for the MALC are:
- Aptiv, Inc., Wisconsin
- Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, Ohio
- Coordinated Care Alliance, Illinois
- Healthy Living for ME, Maine
- Innovations for Aging (Juniper Network), Minnesota
- Kentucky Council of Area Development Districts, Kentucky
- Mass Home Care, Massachusetts
- North Central Area Agency on Aging, Connecticut
- Open Hand Atlanta, Georgia
- South Carolina Association of Council on Aging Directors, South Carolina
- Selfhelp Community Services, Inc., New York
The purpose of the MALC is to provide CBOs with the knowledge and skills needed to successfully pursue partnerships and contracts with Medicare Advantage plans to provide home and community-based services and supports. The Balanced Budget Act of 2018, which included the Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act, offers new flexibility for Medicare Advantage plans to provide a broader range of supplemental benefits to people with Medicare who have chronic illnesses. These programs include home-delivered meals, transportation for non-medical needs, in-home support and more. These changes in the law present an exciting chance for aging and disability CBOs to partner with Medicare Advantage plans to more effectively address the social determinants of health. The MALC will help the selected organizations prepare for and seize this new opportunity.
Over the next six months, CBOs participating in the MALC will engage in a rigorous learning experience consisting of monthly group webinars, homework assignments, monthly group coaching calls and an online community they can use to share their experiences. The goal of the MALC is to not only boost the skillset of participating CBOs, but also to encourage them to share their knowledge and experiences with other aging and disability CBOs that are just starting to develop these partnerships.
Funded by cooperative agreements from the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL), the MALC represents a partnership between the Aging and Disability Business Institute at n4a and the National Council on Aging’s Center for Healthy Aging.