Governor
Snyder named Nick Lyon interim Director of the Department of Human
Services (DHS) while he continues as Director of the Department of
Community Health (DCH). There is speculation the Governor’s office
is considering merging the two departments into one.
Director
Lyon has indicated his focus would remain on improving overall
services for persons both through DHS and DCH, especially through
putting a great focus on the comprehensive integration of care.
Mr.
Lyon pointed to the success of the Healthy Michigan Medicaid
enrollment as one project that will improve the overall services for
Michigan’s citizens. More than 500,000 people have signed up for
the program this year, well in excess of the some 477,000 the state
anticipated would sign up by the end of 2015.
About
120,000 recipients have filled out health assessments. There have
been over 200,000 preventative care visits, 13,000 mammograms, and
15,000 colonoscopies for those covered under the Healthy Michigan
Plan. Participants are taking steps to better manage their health.
The
priority issue for the Director is ensuring providers look at the
whole person. One way in which to achieve this goal is integrating
care for persons who are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare.
The state plans to launch a Dual Eligible pilot project later this
year.