NACMH's Recommendations to the Secretary of
HHS
The mandate of the National Advisory
Council on Migrant Health is to develop recommendations
for action on the part of the Secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
to increase the effectiveness of migrant health
centers (MHCs) in meeting the primary health
care needs of migrant and seasonal farmworkers
(MSFWs).
Year
2007 Recommendations
November 23, 2007
NACMH
Letter to the Secretary
April 16, 2007
The Council made recommendations to the Secretary
regarding Behavioral Health, Access and Policy.
NACMH
Letter to the Secretary
Response
Year
2006 Recommendations
September 5, 2006
On September 5, 2006, the National Advisory
Council on Migrant Health provided the following
recommendations to the Secretary of Health:
Increase resource to both existing health centers
and to new access points to enable these centers
to provide ancillary services. Such ancillary
services would include (a) outreach, (b) case
management, (c) transportation, (d) mobile services,
and (e) interpretation.
Reduce to 500 the number of migrant farmworkers/family
members required for Expanded Medical Capacity.
Identify successful systems of electronic transfer
of medical records between health centers so
that migrant farmworkers are assured of continuity
of care.
NACMH
Letter to the Secretary
Response
March 27, 2006
The National Advisory Council on Migrant Health
transmitted the following recommendations to
the Secretary of Health on March 27, 2006:
A. Support the reauthorization of the Health
Center Consolidation Act, including those portions
of this Act pertaining to the retention of community-based
boards of directors, maintaining proportional
funding for farmworker health, and the present
definition of migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
B. Continue the present level of training and
technical assistance provided by Central Office
Grantees (COGs).
C. Accelerate the review by all governmental
entities, including the Department of Health
and Human Services, of the Farmworker Access
Study mandated by the Health Care Safety Net
Amendments of 2002. In order to expedite the
provision of needed health services to farmworkers,
pending this review the Secretary should designate
all federally qualified health centers (FQHC)
as out of state providers.
D. The Department of Health and Human Services
should increase the number of in-house, oral
health programs in migrant health centers to
75%.
NACMH
Letter to the Secretary
Response
Year 2005 Recommendations
On July 25, 2005, the Migrant Council made
the following recommendations to the Secretary
of Health and Human Services:
A. Develop a mechanism to ensure States comply
with 45 CFR 233.40, which would allow a migrant
farmworker who is temporarily working out of
State to be eligible for Medicaid in the State
in which he/she is working.
B. Develop a mechanism to ensure States comply
with 42 CFR 435.904, which directs States to
place in each Federally Qualified Health Center
(FQHC) a State employee who is responsible for
screening patients of the FQHC to determine
whether the patients are eligible for Medicaid.
C. Assure the immediate release of the Farmworker
Access Study to Congress.
D. Increase the grant-dollar, per user allocation
differential for farmworkers.
E. Maintain the present formula set forth for
allocating funding to migrant health as set
forth in section 330 of the Health Care Safety
Net Amendment Act of 2002.
NACMH
Letter to the Secretary
Response
Year 2004 Recommendations
The Council submitted a letter to Mark McClellan,
M.D., Director, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
(CMS) on November 24, 2004, counseling CMS to
include as a central tenet of the 404 Report
a viable mechanism so that migrant farmworkers
and their families can access health services
when they are working temporarily away from
their homes.
NACMH
Letter to the Secretary
Response
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