Palco Program Spotlight- Chanda Center for Health Remote Services Program

Palco kicked off 2024 with a new and exciting partnership with the Chanda Center for Health! The Chanda Center for Health’s mission is to deliver, advocate & educate for integrative therapy and other complementary services to reduce health disparities and costs by improving health equity and outcomes for individuals with physical disabilities through the support of donors, grants, special events and community partners. They have pioneered the creation and inception of the Complementary and Integrative Health Waiver brining access to services to even more people in need.

The Chanda Center for Health provides access to acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, physical therapy, behavioral health, care coordination, and dental care through various programs where services are available onsite at its Lakewood facility or remotely, serving people with Spinal Cord Injuries, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple, Sclerosis, Spina Bifida, and Brain Injuries. In 2023, they began exploring barriers to access to services and how to reach more CIH waiver eligible members across the entire state of Colorado! In Colorado there are an estimated 8,000 people currently on a Medicaid HCBS waiver who qualify for the added benefits of the CIH waiver (based on their diagnosis) but are not accessing these beneficial services. Some of the barriers include access to providers, lack of information sharing, and delayed initiatives to get members enrolled on the CIH waiver. Through a competitive request for proposal process, Palco was selected as the partners for the Chanda Center to accomplish this expansion and implement new Remote Services option.

This new remote services option is available for eligible CIH Waiver members who reside outside of a 30-mile radius of the Chanda Center for Health clinic in Lakewood, CO. Members within a 30-mile radius of the Lakewood center should continue/seek receiving services there on site, unless an accommodation is needed. Through this program, waiver participants can receive therapeutic services (acupuncture, chiropractic, massage) from any qualified provider of their choosing. Rather than providers undergoing a tradition and very lengthy process of becoming an enrollment Mediciad provider, Palco offers a self-directed approach to allow Participants to enroll the vendor of their choice with Palco who will process payments for the service rendered. Palco and the Chanda Center for Health have developed resources to support Members in recruiting qualified providers and getting their services started.

We are thrilled to be partnering with the Chanda Center for Health to bring more eligible CIH waiver participants access to these great services. If you are a CIH waiver participant, speak to your Case Manager about using the Remote Services Option today! If you are not yet enrolled in the CIH waiver, talk to your Case Manager or contact the Case Management Agency in your county today. A resource for locating your Case Management Agency can be found here.

For more information check out the following resources and video below. Future information and resources will be posted at https://palcofirst.com/chanda-center-remote/ as they are created.

Resources:

• Program Brochure
• Participant Welcome Letter / Process To Enroll
• Participant Guide to Finding Providers
• Provider Info Flyer

Video:

by Erika Swanson
Account Manager