On October 1, 2018, the health care authority (HCA) submitted an amendment to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for the current 1915(b) behavioral health waiver. That amendment included a request to move five regions into the integrated managed care (IMC) program on January 1, 2019. However, HCA recently learned that the North Sound Regional Service Area (RSA), which encompasses the counties of Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom, will not be ready for transition by this date. As a result, integration in this region will be delayed until at least April 1, 2019. As a result, HCA will submit a revised amendment to the current waiver that keeps the North Sound RSA in the behavioral health organization (BHO) program.

HCA will submit an updated waiver amendment to CMS to move the North Sound RSA out of the BHO program and into the IMC program once a final decision on an implementation date has been made. Until the North Sound RSA moves from the BHO program to the IMC program, the North Sound BHO and the current apple health managed care organizations will continue to operate as they do today.

Please send all comments and questions regarding this amendment to Richard VanCleave, phone 360-725-3703 or email richard.vancleave@hca.wa.gov. Comments are due by December 7, 2019. Please forward this information to any interested party.