Nevada County OKs MOU with Partnership Health Plan to Provide Enhanced Care Management for Medically Complex Children

Nevada County supervisors voted unanimously on March 11 to approve an MOU with Partnership Health Plan of California that formalizes Nevada County Public Health as an enhanced care management provider for children served through the California Children's Services (CCS) program.

County Public Health Director Kathy Cahill told the board the agreement will allow the county to bill Partnership for enhanced care management services and continue case coordination for medically complex children and their families as state Medi-Cal programs move to the CalAIM 'whole child' model. "The MOU that we are proposing is really a MOU with our managed care plan here in Nevada County, Partnership, and we want to establish it for purposes of really formalizing Nevada County as an enhanced care case manager," Cahill said.

The move matters because CCS has provided specialized care coordination locally for decades and the statewide CalAIM transition shifts medical case management into managed care. Shar Weiswinzel, director of Public Health Nursing, said Nevada County still medically case manages some families and that county staff have long-established relationships that the MOU will preserve. "With enhanced care management, we're still able to work with the families and to provide that intensive nonmedical case management for those families in high needs," Weiswinzel said.

Board members asked how many children would be affected and how the funding works. Cahill and Weiswinzel said about 427 children were enrolled in CCS in Nevada County, with roughly 390 in medical managed care who could be served under the enhanced care management mechanism. The MOU specifies the county will be reimbursed through billing systems the managed care plan operates; some programming and system work is required to set up claims and reporting. The county explained the MOU will automatically renew in one-year intervals until either party terminates the agreement.

Supervisor discussion focused on continuity of services and coordination with existing county programs. A staffing and funding question prompted County staff and the county's deputy CEO to explain CalAIM'related enhanced care management is a Medi-Cal benefit and may carry a federal/state match; the share depends on individual cases and program rules.

The board approved the resolution by voice vote; supervising members recorded their votes as yes across Districts 5, 2, 4, 3 and 1 (tally 5-0). The approved motion: "Approve the resolution authorizing the agreement between the County of Nevada and Partnership Health Plan of California for delivery of enhanced care management services in Nevada County." The resolution notes the MOU will enable the county to continue serving CCS families and receive reimbursement through Partnership.

The county intends to continue its Medical Therapy Unit (MTU, referred to in presentation as the McAteer Center) services on school sites and to coordinate transportation, durable medical equipment and social needs referrals under the new model. Staff said the change is intended to keep county case managers engaged with families rather than transferring all care coordination out of local hands.

The county asked for no additional public comment on the item; the board adopted the resolution and thanked the presenters. Ending details include an ongoing implementation phase to set up billing and reporting systems and staff said they would return to the board with any substantive implementation changes.