MEAC Alumni Council Meeting Summary – July 8, 2025

Date: July 8, 2025

Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Type of Meeting: Virtual

Members Present: 3 out of 3 members were present

HCPF Staff Present: Antoinette Taranto, Chief Customer Officer; Thessica Covato, Member Engagement Specialist, Cesar Zatarain, Community Liaison 

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Meeting Objectives:

• Continue to build understanding and commitment for person- and family-centeredness, which means we respect and value individual strengths, preferences and contributions, and work with members, not doing things to or for them.
• Provide opportunities for collaboration between the Department and members with the goal of improving member experience and the relationship between the Department and all members.
• Provide a way for Department staff to test with members whether or not programs and policies are working as designed and having the desired outcome.
• Build staff empathy and skills by engaging with actual members and their lived experience, accessing meaning behind data, not just relying on what’s easy to collect and analyze.

Disclosure of Conflict of Interest:  

Members were provided an opportunity to disclose conflict of interest.  

Old Business:

Medical Care Advisory Committee Attendance

During the June Alumni meeting members agreed to schedule for representation at the quarterly MCAC meetings.  Two MEAC Alumni members were assigned to each meeting on a rotating basis.  Alumni members requested that the third, unassigned member be able to attend as a spectator.  

MCAC staff agreed to the attendance and said that there will likely be a time at the end of the meeting for comment, should the third alumni member have something to contribute.

Vote: MEAC Alumni Council Bylaws

The MEAC Alumni Council Bylaws were officially approved with a vote of 3 approving/0 disapproving.

Discussion: MEAC Alumni Council Meeting Summaries 

Summaries must be publicly posted on the website within 30 days.

Summaries will be posted as web pages for greater accessibility and easier updates.

Discussion occurred about how members will review and approve meeting summaries prior to posting, with a suggestion to share drafts via Google Docs for comment within a week.

Consensus emerged to keep summaries concise but informative; attendees found the June summary adequately detailed and clear.

Vote: June Meeting Summary

The June meeting summary was officially approved with a vote of 3 approving/0 disapproving.

Review of MEAC Meeting

Key issues highlighted:

• Member letters often lack background or clarity, creating confusion for members.
• Many members do not understand what Regional Accountable Entities (RAEs) are or their role.
• Members often confuse RAEs with care coordinators, case managers, or other health representatives.
• Members do not know or understand the roles of the various entities that are involved in administering Health First Colorado.  For example, local county departments/application sites for eligibility, Enrollment Broker for health plan/PCP enrollment, RAEs/Case Managers/PCP for care coordination, etc.
  

Additional member experiences were discussed identifying the following issues:

Issues with RAE Outreach and Care Continuity

• People don’t hear from their Regional Accountable Entity (RAE) unless they reach out first.
• When they do make contact, they often talk to someone new each time, which means they must repeat their story, and it disrupts consistent care.

Confusion About Health Coverage Programs

• Many people have trouble telling the difference between programs like Presumptive Eligibility, Medicaid Buy-In, and Cover All Coloradans.
• This shows a bigger need for clearer, easier-to-understand explanations of what each program does.

Problems Updating Primary Care Providers

• Primary care provider (PCP) information often stays outdated for a long time.
• The steps to make updates seem complicated, so people may wait instead of fixing it right away.

Mixed Messages About Premium Payments

• People in the Medicaid Buy-In program sometimes get premium notices that show different due dates, but the notices don’t explain the differences.

Errors in RAE Assignments

• RAEs are sometimes assigned using old address information.
• Even after someone updates their address, mistakes in the assignment can continue.

Suggestions included:

• Clearer identification in letters.
• Education efforts targeting member understanding of RAEs roles.
• Annual outreach from RAEs to inform members of services and contacts.
• Develop standardized outreach tools (e.g., postcards, flyers) that clearly define what RAEs are and how to contact them.
• Consistently align logos of Health First Colorado and RAEs on member materials for clearer affiliation. Ensure both logos appear prominently at the top of communications.
• Simplify content by incorporating charts or visual aids to explain Medicaid structure.
• Ensure RAEs use consistent templates and naming conventions in member communications.
• Provide members with a designated contact at their RAE to reduce redundancy and improve trust.

Discussion: Member Recommendations 

One member shared a draft recommendation calling for:

• Clear RAE outreach materials.
• Consistent presentation of RAE information.
  
• Education campaigns through MEAC and other community channels.
  
• Systematized RAE contact assignments for members.

The draft described member experiences shared during the June and July MEAC meetings.  Members do not know who their RAE is and as a result: 

• are not accessing care coordination services. 
• do not feel like their data is secure when receiving an outreach call from RAEs.

Members discussed the need to make recommendations that focus on problems and offer flexible solutions rather than overly prescriptive actions.

The importance of data to support the recommendation was discussed, with plans to use survey responses from MEAC and onboarding surveys.

Wrap-Up

The August meeting will focus on preparing a finalized recommendation for the first MCAC meeting. The goal is to shape the recommendation to be productive, actionable, and well-supported with examples and context.

Adjourn

Next meeting August 12, 2025 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm