Community Health Workers (CHWs) are critical members of care delivery teams who facilitate access to consistent quality and culturally sensitive healthcare to the communities they serve. The services provided by CHWs are extensive, including advocating for efficient resource allocation, promoting reliable healthcare access, and/or delivering culturally appropriate health education.
How to reimburse CHWs through Medicaid expansion is the topic of a new white paper published by the Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research. The publication titled, “Transforming Healthcare in Missouri: Bridging the Gaps with Community Health Workers from Global to Local and Back” offers policy recommendations generated at the center’s latest Transforming Healthcare in Missouri event.
Last September, the center convened a diverse group including leaders from MO HealthNet, Missouri policymakers, university and community partners, and a large number of community health workers to discuss possibilities for new reimbursement models for Community Health Worker (CHW) services in Missouri. The white paper summarizes keynote speaker, panelists, and stakeholder breakout sessions while highlighting prominent policy themes and takeaways.
Event participants heard a keynote concerning the need for, and pathway to, achieving long-term sustainability for CHWs, followed by a panel of Missouri CHWs practicing in rural, suburban, and urban communities. Other speakers discussed the emerging evidence at the state and local levels for CHWs, sharing data that demonstrate how CHWs bring significant value to health outcomes. A brief policy overview provided details on quality metrics and other policy levers within Medicaid and Medicare that could be leveraged to tie CHW work to reimbursement mechanisms.
The newly published white paper summarizes these discussions while highlighting prominent policy themes and event takeaways.
Acknowledgements: Center staff gratefully acknowledge collaborators, the St. Louis Community Health Worker Coalition and the St. Louis Integrated Health Network for their assistance in presenting the Transforming Healthcare in Missouri event and for their valuable input in its resulting policy recommendations.