COMCARE History
In 1997, as part of County Commissioners Association of PA's (CCAP) intergovernmental transfer (IGT) bond issues, the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) agreed to hold ten million
dollars for the creation of a program to assist counties with managed behavioral health care.
CCAP decided to utilize the ten million dollars, subject to DPW approval, to provide services through a new CCAP program called County Managed Care Resource (COMCARE). Over a
period of eighteen months beginning in May of 1998, a COMCARE Study Committee met to develop a list of services and a set of bylaws. The Study Committee also contracted with a firm to assist
with further development and implementation of the program.
In November of 1998, the COMCARE Study Committee surveyed the counties to gather feedback on the initial ideas and direction of the program, the draft bylaws, and overall
need for the proposed program. The Study Committee's last action was to release its final proposal to the CCAP membership, MH/MR administrators and D&A administrators.
The COMCARE Bylaws were adopted in December of 1999.The COMCARE program began in 2000 with its first member, Franklin County.
Through the 2001 IGT negotiations, an additional two million dollars was dedicated to the COMCARE program. With this additional funding, the life of the grant was
extended until 12/31/07. COMCARE continues its operations and dedication to assisting counties with the implementation of behavioral managed healthcare, HealthChoices. Today,
COMCARE continues to grow serving nearly 60 counties.
About COMCARE
COMCARE is an Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement among Counties, affiliated with CCAP, which provides services to Pennsylvania Counties. The purposes of COMCARE are:
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To provide a resource to assist with the implementation and administration of managed behavioral healthcare
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To make available insurance coverage for the counties that provide behavioral managed healthcare.
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To effectuate cost savings in the procuring and administration of managed behavioral healthcare
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To provide advice and information concerning documentation, contracts, processes and other aspects of managed behavioral healthcare.
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To provide financial assistance to counties for the efficient implementation and administration of managed behavioral healthcare.
COMCARE is a membership driven program. It is
the intent of the program to include all of the counties of PA,
regardless of the status of their managed behavioral healthcare
program. Counties are offered a menu of services. They are required
to join COMCARE for an inexpensive annual membership fee to utilize
services. The membership fee is calculated based upon a county's
average number of MA recipients at the end of each month for the
most recent 12-month period. A part of this number includes voluntarily
enrolled people. Membership fees are used to cover COMCARE's operational
and administrative expenses. It is important to note that COMCARE
is not an insurance pool. The program provides financial, technical,
and informational resources.
In 2004 COMCARE PRO began providing the DPW required stop loss reinsurance.
COMCARE PRO covers eighty percent of inpatient costs exceeding your chosen attachment point which can be as low as $60,000 or as high as $100,000.
COMCARE PRO is a
Reciprocal Risk Retention Group (RRG), licensed by the State of Vermont
and approved to write insurance in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by
the Pennsylvania Insurance Department.
For detailed information on the COMCARE Board of Directors, COMCARE
Delegates, and membership, please click on the COMCARE Bylaws
link found on this page.
Much of the information on this page was provided to COMCARE from an outside source. COMCARE does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this information. By listing the vendor or provider of any product or service, COMCARE does not recommend the vendor or provider, and does not warrant the quality or efficacy of the product or service. COMCARE cautions the reader to contact the source of the information and other primary sources for complete and current information, and to exercise their own judgment in selecting products and services.
