PA Safety Net Admin, Author at Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

New in Medicaid Medical Transportation: Uber and Lyft

State Medicaid programs focused on ensuring that beneficiaries keep their doctor appointments are increasingly looking to ride-sharing services to supplement the providers already participating in their medical transportation programs.

Today, Lyft is working with approximately 35 state Medicaid programs while Uber, at least so far, participates only in Arizona’s program.

While ride-sharing is not going to replace other medical transportation programs – for one thing, most Uber and Lyft cars are not equipped to serve individuals with serious disabilities – they can help supplement services that today typically require patients to reserve rides days ahead of time and then share van rides with other patients.

To facilitate the use of ride-sharing services, several state governments have eased regulations that require people who drive Medicaid beneficiaries to undergo first-aid training and drug testing.

While ride-sharing is not yet a formal part of Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program, pilot programs using such services are currently under way in Allegheny County and Philadelphia.

Learn more about how ride-sharing is moving into the Medicaid medical transportation industry in the Kaiser Health News article “Uber And Lyft Ride-Sharing Services Hitch Onto Medicaid.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-10-08T06:00:17+00:00October 8th, 2019|Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Safety-Net Hospitals Rally to Fill Void When Safety-Net Hospital Closes

When a safety-net hospital in Philadelphia closed recently, many predicted a crisis.

But there was no crisis.

Instead, patients previously served by Hahnemann University Hospital, a Pennsylvania safety-net hospital that served especially large numbers of Medicaid and uninsured patients, are now being served by other safety-net hospitals in Philadelphia: mostly, Jefferson Health, the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Einstein Healthcare Network, and Temple University Hospital. All report increased volume in their emergency rooms, more ambulance arrivals, and more inpatient admissions, but at least so far, they also report that they are comfortably handling the increased patient volume created when Hahnemann closed its emergency room and discharged its last patients in July.

Learn more in the Philadelphia Inquirer article “Hahnemann’s end was expected to be a crisis. But that’s not what happened, Philly health officials say.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-10-07T06:00:40+00:00October 7th, 2019|Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

SNAP Asks PA Delegation to Support Another Medicaid DSH Cut Delay

In a letter to members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, SNAP has asked those members to support another two-year delay of Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) cuts mandated by the Affordable Care Act.

In the message, SNAP notes the important role Medicaid DSH payments play in helping private safety-net hospitals care for the many uninsured patients who continue to turn to them for care.

If the cut is not delayed, Pennsylvania will see its Medicaid DSH allotment from the federal government fall 40 percent in FY 2020 and 80 percent annually from FY 2021 through FY 2025.

See SNAP’s message to PA delegation members here.

PA Safety Net Admin2019-10-04T06:00:52+00:00October 4th, 2019|Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

SNAP Asks PA Congressional Delegation to Support Medicaid DSH Cut Delay (Letter)

SNAP asks members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to advocate a two-year delay of Medicaid DSH cuts during upcoming federal budget deliberations.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-09-01T18:02:02+00:00October 3rd, 2019|Advocacy|Comments Off

SNAP Thanks PA Delegation for Supporting Short-Term Medicaid DSH Cut Delay

SNAP has written to members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to thank them for voting for a temporary delay of Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) cuts mandated by the Affordable Care Act.

The Medicaid DSH delay was included in a continuing resolution that Congress passed to fund the federal government temporarily while legislators continue to negotiate an FY 2020 federal budget. The continuing resolution and the Medicaid DSH cut delay run through November 21.

Medicaid DSH cuts mandated by the Affordable Care Act have already been delayed several times by Congress, but if not delayed again, Pennsylvania will see its federal Medicaid DSH allotment fall 40 percent in FY 2020 and 80 percent a year from FY 2021 through FY 2025.

See SNAP’s thank you note to Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation here.

PA Safety Net Admin2019-10-03T06:00:35+00:00October 3rd, 2019|DSH hospitals, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

SNAP Thanks PA Delegation for Supporting Temporary Delay of Medicaid DSH Cuts (Letter)

SNAP thanks members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation for voting to include a temporary delay of Medicaid DSH cuts in the continuing resolution that funds the federal government through November 21.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-09-01T18:03:07+00:00October 2nd, 2019|Advocacy|Comments Off

ACA May be Improving, Saving Lives

The insurance expansion made possible by the Affordable Care Act may be improving and even saving lives, some studies and anecdotal evidence suggest.

While observers warn that it is difficult to attempt to render a final verdict on the reform law’s insurance expansion and its impact, various studies and observations point to encouraging developments. Among them:

High blood pressure is being detected at a higher rate now among people who bought insurance as a result of the ACA than it was prior to the law’s passage.
Fewer 19-26 year-olds, now permitted to remain on their parents’ health insurance, are choosing not to see a doctor about their asthma because of the cost of seeking care.
Women in Michigan report having an easier time obtaining birth control pills.
Participants in a Michigan program are reporting an increased likelihood of learning they have chronic medical conditions than was the case before they were insured.
People between their mid-50s and mid-60s living in states that expanded their Medicaid programs, and who took advantage of that expansion, had a lower death rate than similar people in non-expansion states.

Pennsylvania is among the 37 states (including the District of Columbia) that took advantage of the Affordable Care Act to expand its Medicaid program.

Learn more about some of the documented and observed benefits of the Affordable Care Act’s improved access to health insurance in the Washington Post article “With the Affordable Care Act’s future in doubt, evidence grows that it saves lives.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-10-02T15:52:54+00:00October 2nd, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

CMS Adopts Methodology for Medicaid DSH Cuts

Medicaid DSH money will be allocated among states based on a new methodology under a regulation adopted this week by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

But it is not clear when that new methodology may actually be used.

Cuts in Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (Medicaid DSH) allotments to states were mandated by the Affordable Care Act based on the expectation that the law would greatly reduced the number of uninsured Americans. While this has been the case, the decline in the number of uninsured has not been as great as expected. For this reason, Congress has on several occasions delayed the required Medicaid DSH cut.

That cut is now scheduled to take effect next week, on October 1, but a continuing resolution to fund the federal government, passed last week by the House and now under consideration by the Senate, would delay that cut again – at least until November 22.

Should the cut be implemented, Pennsylvania would lose 40 percent of its Medicaid DSH allotment from the federal government in FY alone and that cut would rise to 80 percent a year from FY 2021 through FY 2025. Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals view Medicaid DSH as an important part of their effort to care for the uninsured and underinsured residents of the low-income communities in which they are located.

Learn more about the new regulation governing the future allotments of Medicaid DSH money to the states and the prospects for Medicaid DSH allocation cuts being made anytime soon in the Healthcare Dive article “CMS finalizes Medicaid DSH cuts, but Congress could still delay” and see the regulation itself here.

PA Safety Net Admin2019-09-25T10:59:52+00:00September 25th, 2019|Affordable Care Act, DSH hospitals, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

SNAP Takes Position on State Medicaid Funding After Hahnemann Closure

Pennsylvania’s Medicaid resources should follow now-closed Hahnemann University Hospital’s Medicaid patients as those patients turn to new providers, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania declared in a position statement issued this week.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logo According to SNAP,

…the best way to protect access to care and prevent additional financial strain on Philadelphia hospitals is to ensure that all state resources reallocated in the wake of Hahnemann University Hospital’s closure follow the displaced patients.

In preparation for addressing this challenge, SNAP performed a data-based analysis of where Medicaid patients turned for care upon the closing of St. Joseph’s Hospital, like Hahnemann a high-volume Medicaid provider and located in the same community as Hahnemann, in 2016. This analysis identified where patients went when St. Joseph’s closed and in its position statement, SNAP urges state policy-makers to perform similar analyses and ensure that state Medicaid resources, especially supplemental payments made to hospitals that serve especially large numbers of Medicaid patients, be distributed to the hospitals that actually serve displaced Hahnemann patients. Such an approach, SNAP maintains, is the best way to ensure the future of the health care safety net in Philadelphia.

Learn more in the SNAP position statement “Protecting Philadelphia’s Health Care Safety Net From the Financial Implications of the Closing of Hahnemann University Hospital.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-09-18T13:24:14+00:00September 18th, 2019|Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

PA Senate to Take Up Medicaid Work Requirement

Undeterred by past defeats, members of PA’s state senate are again attempting to advance Medicaid work requirement legislation.

This time, the proposal to impose a Medicaid work requirement will add new flexibility to such a requirement, offering exemptions for individuals deemed “medically frail” and enabling individuals who do volunteer work, attend college, or who are actively looking for work to continue qualifying for Medicaid benefits.

Harrisburg, PA capital building The proposal will be considered by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

The legislature has passed two Medicaid work requirement bills in the past but Governor Tom Wolf has vetoed them.

Learn more about this latest effort to establish a Medicaid work requirement in Pennsylvania in the PA Post article “Wolf, Republicans resume tug-of-war over Medicaid work requirements.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-09-17T06:00:13+00:00September 17th, 2019|Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations|Comments Off

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