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

ACA Repeal Would Drive Up Uninsured, Uncompensated Care

At the same time that the Trump administration announced that it has asked a federal court to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act, the Urban Institute has published a report detailing the potential impact of the health care reform law’s repeal.

According to the Urban Institute report, repealing the entire Affordable Care Act would add almost 20 million Americans to the ranks of the uninsured. Medicaid and CHIP enrollment would fall by 15.4 million people and millions of others would lose the tax credits they used to purchase insurance. Some would purchase insurance with limited benefits and individual plan premiums would rise while others would go uninsured.

In addition, repeal of the Affordable Care Act would lead to an 82 percent increase in hospital uncompensated care, to more than $50 billion. About half of the states would see the amount of uncompensated care provided by their hospitals double, the Urban Institute estimates.

Repeal of the Affordable Care Act would pose an especially great financial challenge for Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals because they care for so many Medicaid- and CHIP-covered and low-income patients who might lose their coverage if the reform law is repealed. About 700,000 new people have enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program since the state implemented the Affordable Care Act’s optional Medicaid expansion.

Learn more from the Healthcare Dive article “Killing ACA would lead to huge spikes in uncompensated care” and from the Urban Institute report State-by-State Estimates of the Coverage and Funding Consequences of Full Repeal of the ACA.

PA Safety Net Admin2019-03-28T06:00:09+00:00March 28th, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Federal Medicaid issues, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

Medicaid Transportation Services in Jeopardy?

The White House has proposed removing non-emergency transportation from the list of mandatory Medicaid benefits.

The proposed FY 2020 budget released last week explained that

Statute allows, but does not require, States to provide non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT). Instead, these services were made mandatory Medicaid benefits by regulation. Further, a Government Accountability Office study found Medicaid NEMT spending totaled $1.5 billion in 2013, and NEMT programs face multiple challenges, including difficulties in obtaining costs and maintaining program integrity. To address these issues, this proposal would update regulations to clarify the NEMT benefit is strictly optional.

Medical transportation has long been viewed as vital means for helping Medicaid patients keep doctors’ appointments and recover from their illnesses and injuries and for overcoming some social determinants of health. Loss of this tool would be harmful for Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals and the patients and communities they serve.

PA Safety Net Admin2019-03-25T06:00:07+00:00March 25th, 2019|Federal Medicaid issues|Comments Off

MACPAC Makes DSH, UPL Recommendations

Changes could come in Medicaid DSH and UPL payments if new MACPAC recommendations are adopted.

Last week the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission released its annual report to Congress, with most of the report focusing on its analysis and recommendations for policy updates involving Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicaid DSH) and Medicaid upper payment limit payments (UPL payments).

With Affordable Care Act-mandated cuts in Medicaid DSH payments scheduled to start in FY 2020 – this coming October – MACPAC recommended that these cuts be reduced and phased in over a longer period of time “…to give states and hospitals more time to respond to the cuts…”

MACPAC also recommended that Congress and the administration revise the current methodology for distributing Medicaid DSH money to the states to “…provide a stronger link between the distribution of those allotments and measures of hospital uncompensated care…”

The commission also addressed UPL payments, expressing concern about “…the discrepancy between reporting by states to show that they are complying with the UPL and the spending data they report to claim federal matching funds” and recommending “…instituting better data and process controls to ensure that state reporting on compliance with UPL lines up with those amounts they are claiming, and existing limits are enforced.

Medicaid DSH and UPL payments are especially important to SNAP and Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals because of the significant number of low-income, Medicaid-covered, and uninsured patients they serve.

Learn more from MACPAC’s news release summarizing its recommendations and the entire MACPAC annual report.

PA Safety Net Admin2019-03-20T06:00:41+00:00March 20th, 2019|DSH hospitals, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

“Medicaid Shortfall” Definition Changing?

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission last week discussed possible changes in how “Medicaid shortfall” is defined for the purpose of determining how much Medicaid disproportionate share money (Medicaid DSH) safety-net hospitals should receive.

The discussion came in the wake of a court decision last year that ruled that third-party payments toward Medicaid-covered services could not be included in hospitals’ Medicaid shortfall calculations.

MACPAC commissioners discussed several statutory changes that would seek to minimize the impact of the court ruling:

Include third-party payments in the definition of Medicaid shortfall.
Exclude from the Medicaid DSH definition of Medicaid shortfall all payments and costs for patients who have third-party coverage.
Explore new rules that address different types of third-party coverage.

MACPAC is an advisory body whose recommendations to Congress are not binding but its views are respected and often find their way into future public policy.

This subject is important to Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals because all of them receive Medicaid DSH payments.

Learn more about MACPAC’s deliberations on Medicaid shortfalls and Medicaid DSH from the Fierce Healthcare article “MACPAC considers recommending change to definition of ‘Medicaid shortfall’ at safety net hospitals.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-03-13T06:00:58+00:00March 13th, 2019|DSH hospitals, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

MACPAC Meets

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met for two days last week in Washington, D.C.

The following is MACPAC’s own summary of the sessions.

MACPAC looked ahead to its June 2019 report to Congress on the initial day of the March 2019 Commission meeting. In the morning, sessions focused on potential recommendations to create a grace period for states to determine coverage policies for outpatient prescription drugs and removing or raising the rebate cap; a uniform definition of therapeutic foster care; and treatment of third-party payment when determining hospitals’ Medicaid shortfall for disproportionate share hospital payments.

In the afternoon, the Commission turned its attention to Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program, with a new analysis on Puerto Rico’s Medicaid enrollment, spending, available financing, and implications for the future. The Commission also considered potential June recommendations focusing on improving performance and return on investment for state program integrity activities.

Several other important topics were also on the March agenda, including a session on Medicaid coverage of recovery support services for beneficiaries with substance use disorders (SUDs) in the afternoon. On the meeting’s second day, the Commission reviewed a draft letter to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, laying out the eligibility groups that should be included in the department’s forthcoming data book on Medicaid beneficiaries with SUDs. MACPAC’s input on eligibility groups was required in the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. A review of the proposed rule affecting safe harbors for prescription drug rebates was the topic of the second session, with the final session presenting findings on how various states have approached care coordination in integrated care models.

Supporting the discussion were the following presentations:

Because SNAP members and Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals serve so many Medicaid patients, MACPAC’s deliberations are especially relevant to them because its recommendations often find their way into future Medicaid and CHIP policies.

MACPAC is a non-partisan legislative branch agency that provides policy and data analysis and makes recommendations to Congress, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the states on a wide variety of issues affecting Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Find its web site here.

PA Safety Net Admin2019-03-11T06:00:55+00:00March 11th, 2019|Federal Medicaid issues, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

PA to Experiment with Global Budgets for Rural Areas

Pennsylvania plans to launch an experiment in which participating health insurers will fund global budgets to care for residents served by selected rural hospitals.

The program seeks to preserve access to care in rural parts of the state by stabilizing the financial health of struggling rural hospitals.

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Health news release,

The Rural Health Model is an alternative payment model, transitioning hospitals from a fee-for-service model to a global budget payment. Instead of hospitals getting paid when someone visits the hospital, they will receive a predictable amount of money. Payment for the global budget will include multiple-payers, including private and public insurers.

The global budgeting project is a joint venture of the state’s Department of Human Services, Department of Health, Insurance Department, the Pennsylvania Office for Rural Health, the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, and the participating hospitals and health insurers.

The five hospitals that will participate in the model’s launch are Barnes-Kasson County Hospital, Endless Mountain Health Systems, Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital, UPMC Kane, and Wayne Memorial Hospital. The five participating insurers are Gateway Health Plan, Geisinger Health Plan, Highmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, UPMC, and the state’s Medicaid program. The state hopes to bring additional hospitals and additional insurers into the program in the future.

The federal government’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation is investing $25 million over five years to fund a rural health redesign center to support the project’s launch.

The project is needed, according to the state, because “Nearly half of all rural hospitals in Pennsylvania are operating with negative margins and are at-risk of closure.”

Learn more about this initiative from this Pennsylvania Department of Health news release.

PA Safety Net Admin2019-03-08T06:00:58+00:00March 8th, 2019|Uncategorized|Comments Off

Pennsylvania Health Law Project Newsletter

The Pennsylvania Health Law Project has published the February 2019 edition of its newsletter.

Included in this edition are articles about:

Governor Wolf’s proposed FY 2020 Medicaid budget
Medicare Part D co-pay problems for some dual-eligibles
new Medicare Part D monitoring for prescription drug abuse
Community HealthChoices

Find these stories and others in the latest edition of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project’s Health Law PA News.

PA Safety Net Admin2019-03-04T06:00:14+00:00March 4th, 2019|Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania proposed FY 2020 budget, Pennsylvania state budget issues|Comments Off

Safety-Net Hospitals Struggle in Medicare Joint Replacement Model

Non-safety-net hospitals are outperforming safety-net hospitals in the Medicare’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement model, which was introduced in 2016.

According to a new study published in Health Affairs,

…in comparison to non-safety-net hospitals, 42 percent fewer safety-net hospitals qualified for rewards based on their quality and spending performance (33 percent of safety-net hospitals qualified, compared to 57 percent of non-safety-net hospitals), and safety-net hospitals’ rewards per episode were 39 percent smaller ($456 compared to $743). Continuation of this performance trend could place safety-net hospitals at increased risk of penalties in future years.

What might be done to address this disparity? The study suggests that

Medicare and hospital strategies such as those that reward high-quality care for vulnerable patients could enable safety-net hospitals to compete effectively in CJR.

Learn more in the Health Affairs article Performance of Safety-Net Hospitals in Year 1 of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model.

PA Safety Net Admin2019-03-01T06:00:22+00:00March 1st, 2019|Medicare|Comments Off

DHS Highlights Proposed FY 2020 Initiatives

Governor Wolf’s proposed FY 2020 budget for the Department of Human Services includes a number of initiatives designed to improve existing programs, enhance health status, and improve access to health services. As highlighted in a recent release from DHS, those initiatives include:

increasing Pennsylvania’s minimum wage
helping parents find lasting careers
evidence-based home visiting
high-quality child care
expanding access to affordable child care
personal care homes/day treatment programs
disability advocacy program
helping people access services

All of these proposals are subject to review and consideration by the state legislature as part of the process of developing and adopting a state spending plan for the 2020 fiscal year. Learn more from the DHS release “DHS 2019-20 Budget Initiatives.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-02-25T06:00:57+00:00February 25th, 2019|Pennsylvania proposed FY 2020 budget|Comments Off

States Taking Different Paths to Pay for Medicaid Expansion

With the federal share of Medicaid expansion falling to 90 percent next year, states that expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act are now exploring new ways to raise the money to pay for the 10 percent for which they will soon by responsible.

Some are implementing hospital or insurer taxes while others are increasing existing taxes on hospitals and health insurers. New Hampshire is directing part of the proceeds from a liquor tax for this purpose and other states have introduced cigarette taxes. Some are charging premiums to Medicaid beneficiaries and introducing work requirements for their Medicaid population so they can reduce overall enrollment. Many are using money from their general revenues.

This all comes at a time when many states are finding that their budget situations have improved and are better than they have been in years.

Learn more about how states are dealing with this challenge, and whether they are finding that it is worth it, in the Washington Post article “States scramble to head off future Medicaid shortfalls.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-02-22T06:00:26+00:00February 22nd, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Federal Medicaid issues|Comments Off

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