Louisiana Greater New Orleans Community Health Connection

The Greater New Orleans Community Health Connection Demonstration allows the State to provide health care coverage to individuals who are non-pregnant adults ages 19 through 64 years, who are residents of the Greater New Orleans region, and whose family incomes that do not exceed 200% of FPL. Coverage is provided for a limited set of outpatient services provided by participating health clinics, or in the case of physician specialists services, for which referral was made by a participating clinic. All participating clinics are former recipients of grant funding under the Primary Care Access Stabilization Grant (PCASG) program, which expired on September 30, 2010. Budget neutrality is assured by requiring that Demonstration expenditures, when added to the total amount of supplemental payments made to disproportionate share hospitals (DSH), do not exceed the State's annual DSH allotment. By July 1, 2011, the State must submit a draft plan to CMS to evolve primary and behavioral health care access at participating clinics and to facilitate financial sustainability. The State's plan must also address how demonstration participants will be transitioned to new health care coverage options that will be available under national health reform in 2014.