Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Feds Award States ACA 'Innovation' Grants
Connecticut will receive $45 million in federal funds for an effort to redesign the state鈥檚 health care payment and delivery systems. The funding, announced Tuesday, is part of $620 million awarded to 11 states under the Affordable Care Act, the federal health law commonly known as Obamacare. (Levin Becker, 12/16)
Virginia has won a $2.6 million grant to develop a state health innovation plan that will focus on disease prevention, mental health care and reducing tobacco use and obesity. The one-year grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is the first that Virginia has received from a federal program to foster innovative approaches to delivering health care. (Martz, 12/16)
Colorado will receive $65 million of federal funds to help bring mental health treatment into primary-care doctors' offices, part of a plan to make sure more Coloradans receive mental health treatment when they need it. Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday announced the grant, designed to reward state innovation, after months of work by a team of experts examining ways to improve coordination between mental health care and other medical care. Colorado will spend the money during the next four years. (Brown, 12/16)