By Chip Brownlee, The Trace, August 19, 2021
The violence intervention team at Hartford Communities That Care is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Within 20 minutes of getting a call from Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, the staffers spring into action to help a shooting victim recover — from more than just their physical wounds. In many cases, the patient is still unconscious, their name unknown.
Hospital-based violence intervention programs — often called HVIPs — like Hartford’s have shown they can successfully prevent violence and save money. At least 19 states have some form of these programs. But in a healthcare system governed by insurance plans and their strict, complex reimbursement rules, it can be difficult to get coverage for services focused on preventing violence, rather than treating its outcomes.
However, financial support for this type of intervention is about to get a lot more reliable in at least two states, beginning next year. In June, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat, signed a bipartisan bill that will direct the state’s Medicaid agency to cover the costs of hospital-based violence intervention programs for beneficiaries. Just a few days later, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, also a Democrat, signed a broad bill aimed at “reimagining public safety” that included similar language supporting Medicaid funding for intervention services.
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