COVID Resources for County and Eligibility Partners

This page is a resource center for Health First Colorado and CHP+ County and Eligibility sites that may have questions about COVID-19. We will post updates on this page as they become available. We will continue to send out these communications via existing channels such as the County Connections e-newsletter and the HCPF Memo Series. Please sign up for these newsletters.

County and Eligibility Resources

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment general information about the COVID-19 Virus

Resources for COVID-19 Unwind and Renewals

County and Eligibility Site Guidance

Executive Director and Eligibility Communications

Topic Links Date
May 18 COVID Unwind Touch Base Recording 5/18/2023
COVID Public Health Emergency Unwind Planning

Recording

Presentation

4/27/2023
March 30 Public Health Emergency End Touch Base

Recording

Presentation

3/30/2023
Public Health Emergency End Touch Base Recording 2/23/2023
COVID Unwind Educational Session Feb 2023

Recording 

Presentation

2/15/2023
Telephonic Signature MA Renewals

Recording

Presentation

2/3/2023
COVID Public Health Emergency Unwind Planning

Recording

Presentation

1/26/2023
COVID Unwind Educational Session Nov 2022

Recording

Presentation

11/16/2022

October 27 Public Health Emergency End Touch Base

Recording 10/27/2022
Telephonic Signature Enhancements

Recording

Presentation

9/29/2022
August 25 Public Health Emergency End Touch Base

Session Recording

Renewal Unwind Plan

8/25/2022
Renewal Process Preliminary Data for Partners

Session Recording

Presentation

8/3/2022
July 28 Public Health Emergency End Touch Base Session Recording 7/28/2022
Planning for the end of the Public Health Emergency: Continuous Coverage Requirements

Session Recording

Presentation

4/15/2022
Public Health Emergency End Information Session Session Recording 2/24/2022
COVID Unwind Partnering for Members Experiencing Homelessness Session Recording 2/24/2022
Public Health Emergency End Information Session Session Recording 1/28/2022
Public Health Emergency End Information Session Session Recording 12/16/2021
End of Public Health Emergency Information Session for CAAS Session Recording 11/8/2021
Public Health Emergency Unwind Information Session Session Recording 10/21/2021
Public Health Emergency Unwind Information Session

Presentation

Session Recording

9/23/2021
Executive Director Conversation with County Leadership Presentation 9/21/2021
Public Health Emergency End Touch-Base Session Recording 8/26/2021
Public Health Emergency Wind Down Information Session

Session Recording

Password: =g9DL!.S

Presentation

Questions Received

6/17/2021
Executive Director Conversation with County Leadership

Session Recording

Presentation

6/15/2021
Public Health Emergency End Touch-base

Session Recording

Presentation

Informational Session Questions

6/3/2021
May 20 County COVID Locked-In Report Over-the-Shoulder Support Call Session Recording 5/20/2021
April 22 County COVID Locked-In Report Over-the-Shoulder Support Call Session Recording 4/22/2021
April 4 County COVID Locked-In Report Over-the-Shoulder Support Call Session Recording 4/8/2021
March 11 County COVID Locked-In Report Over-the-Shoulder Support Call Session Recording 3/11/2021
Executive Director Conversation with County Leadership

Webinar Recording

PowerPoint

3/2/2021
COVID Locked In Report Guidance

  

Lock In Report Research Trends

Lock In Report Guidance Document

3/1/2021
February 11 County COVID Locked-In Report Over-the-Shoulder Support Call Webinar Recording 2/11/2021
January 28 County COVID Locked-In Report Over-the-Shoulder Support Call Webinar Recording 1/28/2021
January 14 County COVID Locked-in Report Over-the-Shoulder Support Call Webinar Recording 1/14/2021
HCPF Public Health Emergency Budget Supplemental Presentation

Webinar Recording

PowerPoint

1/5/2020
December 17 County COVID Locked-In Report Over-the-Shoulder Support Call Webinar Recording 12/17/2020
Executive Director Conversation with County Leadership

Webinar Recording

PowerPoint

12/9/2020
December 3 County COVID Locked-In Report Over-the-Shoulder Support Call Webinar Recording 12/3/2020
November County COVID Locked-In Report Over-the-Shoulder Support Call Webinar Recording 11/12/2020
County COVID Locked-in Report

Guidance Document

Webinar Recording

9/24/2020
Critical Updates for County Partners

Meeting Recording

PowerPoint

9/17/2020
HCPF Conversation with Local Governments PowerPoint 6/3/2020
HCPF COVID Budgetary Impact for County Partners PowerPoint 5/15/2020


Resources

COVID-19 Memo Guidance for Eligibility Sites

All memos can be found on the HCPF Memo Series Webpage.

Memo # Memo Title Issue Date Links and Attachments
OM 23-018 End of Public Health Emergency for COVID-19 and Returning to Normal Operations 3/17/2023 COVID Unwind Educational Session Feb 2023
PM 20-003 COVID-19 American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Economic Stimulus) Income and Resource Eligibility 4/28/2021 None
PM 20-002 Fraud Investigations, Overpayments, and Eligibility Terminations During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency 2/2/2021 None
PM 21-001 Remote Application Assistance 1/6/2021

Acknowledgement of Verbal Consent

Acknowledgement of Verbal Consent (Spanish)

PM 20-010 Colorado Emergency Economic Stimulus Payment 11/17/2020 None
PM 20-009 COVID-19 Uninsured Benefit for Testing Only 10/20/2020 None
OM 20-071 Self-Attestation of Information During COVID-19 7/14/2020 None
PM 20-004 COVID-19 Continuous Enrollment for Existing Medical Assistance Members 6/15/2020

Benefit Continuation Letter

Coverage Reopen Letter

OM 21-036 County Administration Funding - COVID-19 Public Health Emergency 4/15/2021 None
OM 20-058 County Administration Expenditures During COVID-19 5/13/2020 None
OM 20-055 COVID-19 Guidance for NEMT Providers 5/11/2020 Executive Order D 2020 039 Masks
PM 20-003 New Unemployment Compensation Programs Under the Cares Act 5/7/2020 None
PM 20-002 COVID-19 Recovery Rebate (Economic Stimulus): Income and Resource Eligibility 5/6/2020 None
OM 20-042 RRR Process 4/20/2020 RRR Backlog Tips
OM 20-041 Electronic Signatures for all State Contract with Counties 4/15/2020 DocuSign Signature Step Action Guide

County Office and Eligibility Guidance

County departments should determine whether there are any gaps in their business processes for Medical Assistance eligibility or customer service necessary to ensure member service coverage and application processing. The Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF) has provided the below guidance for certain categories of county operations:

For General Operations

  • Review and follow your Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) and update if necessary to accommodate the COVID-19 impact.
  • Create a plan for communicating to staff and members if your county's workforce is impacted or your offices are closed and ensure work at home and related county communication clarity.
  • Contact HCPF and CDHS to discuss office disruption or closing.
  • Prepare for a possible increase in the number of customer service calls, member visits, and workload.
  • Inform staff of where to find appropriate resources regarding COVID-19, such as those available from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, if asked by members to help reduce the spread of misinformation.

For Medical Assistance Financial Eligibility

  • Encourage the use of PEAK, especially for new applications who can receive a Real Time Eligibility (RTE) determination. This allows for a quick eligibility determination, if done correctly by the member, and requires no immediate action by the county.
  • Minimize in-person interaction for Medical Assistance eligibility. In-person interviews are NOT required for eligibility determinations. Counties should endeavor to utilize other contact methods when reaching out to members (a phone call is sufficient).
  • Do not over-verify eligibility criteria for applicants/clients. Utilize electronic databases and interfaces, where possible, to minimize the need of the client to submit additional documentation. Utilize training from the Staff Development Center to ensure over-verification does not occur.
  • Encourage the use of Health First Colorado mobile app for members to submit changes in their circumstances, upload documentation or find a provider.

For Medical Assistance Functional Eligibility

For Members