Affordable Care Act Archives - Page 3 of 15 - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

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

MACPAC: Slow Medicaid DSH Cuts

Slow the pace of scheduled cuts in Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicaid DSH), the non-partisan agency that advises Congress and the administration will tell Congress in its next report of policy recommendations.

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission voted 16-1 recently to recommend to Congress that Medicaid DSH cuts, mandated by the Affordable Care Act but delayed three times by Congress, be reduced in size and spread out over a longer period of time.

Currently, Medicaid DSH allotments to the states are scheduled to be reduced $4 billion in FY 2020 and then $8 billion a year in FY 2021 through FY 2025. MACPAC recommends that the cuts be reduced to $2 billion in FY 2020, $4 billion in FY 2021, $6 billion in FY 2022, and $8 billion a year from FY 2023 through FY 2029.

MACPAC commissioners also voted to urge Congress to restructure the manner in which Medicaid DSH allotments to the states are calculated based on the number of low-income individuals who reside in the states.

Most Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals receive Medicaid DSH payments and consider them a vital resource in helping to underwrite the uncompensated care they provide to uninsured patients.

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 array of issues affecting Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Learn more about MACPAC’s actions on Medicaid DSH in the Fierce Healthcare article “MACPAC calls for Congress to delay cuts to safety-net hospitals.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-02-04T06:00:11+00:00February 4th, 2019|Affordable Care Act, DSH hospitals, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

The Continued Need for Medicaid DSH

While the Affordable Care Act has greatly increased the number of Americans with health insurance and reduced the demand for uncompensated care from hospitals, many hospitals still see significant numbers of uninsured patients.
Some of those patients simply have not taken advantage of the health reform law’s creation of easier access to affordable insurance while others live in states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs.
Hospitals that care for especially large numbers of such uninsured patients qualify for Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments, commonly referred to as Medicaid DSH. The purpose of these payments is to help these hospitals with the unreimbursed costs they incur caring for such patients.
The Affordable Care Act calls for reducing Medicaid DSH payments to hospitals. Many hospitals and hospital groups oppose this cut and are asking Congress to block its implementation. Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals benefit considerably from Medicaid DSH payments.
The Commonwealth Fund recently published a commentary calling for delaying scheduled Medicaid DSH cuts. Go here to see the article “Keep Harmful Cuts in Federal Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital Payments at Bay.”

PA Safety Net Admin2017-12-27T06:00:23+00:00December 27th, 2017|Affordable Care Act, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments|Comments Off

ACA Reduced Disparities in Access to Care

The Affordable Care Act has reduced socioeconomic disparities in access to health care in the U.S.
According to a new study published in the journal Health Affairs,

Health care access for people in lower socioeconomic strata improved in both states that did expand eligibility for Medicaid under the ACA and states that did not. However, gains were larger in expansion states. The absolute gap in insurance coverage between people in households with annual incomes below $25,000 and those in households with incomes above $75,000 fell from 31 percent to 17 percent (a relative reduction of 46 percent) in expansion states and from 36 percent to 28 percent in nonexpansion states (a 23 percent reduction). This serves as evidence that socioeconomic disparities in health care access narrowed significantly under the ACA.

Addressing socioeconomic barriers to access to care has long been one of the major roles Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals play in their individual communities.

Learn more about how the study was conducted and what it revealed in the article “The Affordable Care Act Reduced Socioeconomic Disparities In Health Care Access,” which can be found here, on the Health Affairs web site.

PA Safety Net Admin2017-08-03T06:00:10+00:00August 3rd, 2017|Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

Hospital Uncompensated Care Down

As was surely expected, reforms introduced through implementation of the Affordable Care Act have driven down uncompensated care costs for many hospitals.
How much?
A new study published by the Commonwealth Fund offers the following findings:

uncompensated care declines in expansion states are substantial relative to profit margins;
for every dollar of uncompensated care costs hospitals in expansion states had in 2013, the Affordable Care Act erased 41 cents by 2015; and
Medicaid expansion reduced uncompensated care burdens for safety-net hospitals that are not made whole by Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Medicaid DSH).

Learn more, including how the decline in uncompensated care costs affected different kinds of hospitals in different kinds of states, in the report “The Impact of the ACA’s Medicaid Expansion on Hospitals’ Uncompensated Care Burden and the Potential Effects of Repeal,” which can be found here, on the Commonwealth Fund’s web site.

PA Safety Net Admin2017-05-16T06:00:57+00:00May 16th, 2017|Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

Health Law Center Comments on Proposed Health Law

The Pennsylvania Health Law Project has issued a statement detailing its perspective on the recently proposed American Health Care Act, which would both repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

See that statement here.

PA Safety Net Admin2017-03-14T06:00:53+00:00March 14th, 2017|Affordable Care Act, American Health Care Act|Comments Off

Comparing “Repeal and Replace” Proposals

How can you keep score while Congress considers multiple proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act?
The Kaiser Family Foundation has just created a new tool that enables users to compare and contrast all of the current repeal and replace proposals: you pick the proposals you want to compare and you select the aspects of those proposals that interest you.
Find this new interactive tool here, on the web site of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

PA Safety Net Admin2017-02-22T06:00:39+00:00February 22nd, 2017|Affordable Care Act|Comments Off

Impact of ACA Repeal on Pennsylvania

How might Pennsylvania be affected by a repeal of the Affordable Care Act?
In a new report, the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative attempts to answer that question, offering projections on the impact of the 2010 health reform’s repeal on jobs, prescription drug coverage for seniors, insurance status for low-income Pennsylvanians, hospitals, and the state’s economy as a whole.
The study looks at this impact on a state-wide level as well as on a congressional district-by-district basis while also examining anticipated impact on some individual counties and even some individual hospitals.
Learn more about how repeal of the Affordable Care Act might affect Pennsylvania and Pennsylvanians by going here to see the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative report The Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative Impact to Pennsylvania of Repealing the Affordable Care Act.

PA Safety Net Admin2017-02-21T06:00:18+00:00February 21st, 2017|Affordable Care Act|Comments Off

Wolf Asks Ryan to Preserve Medicaid Expansion

In a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf urged Congress, no matter how it addresses the Affordable Care Act, to preserve that law’s expansion of access to Medicaid-covered health care services.
The governor specifically pointed to the many people who receive substance abuse treatment through those services.

If the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is repealed and not replaced, over a million Pennsylvanians could lose access to health care and tens of thousands of people – people who are our friends, our neighbors, and our family members that are currently receiving treatment for a substance use disorder – would lose insurance coverage and no longer be able to afford their treatment.

See Governor Wolf’s complete letter to House Speaker Ryan here.

PA Safety Net Admin2017-02-15T06:00:28+00:00February 15th, 2017|Affordable Care Act, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Pennsylvania Health Law Project Newsletter

The Pennsylvania Health Law Project has published its January 2017 newsletter.
Included in this edition are stories about:

impending changes in the lineup of managed care providers that serve Medicaid participants in the state’s HealthChoices program for physical health services;
the status of the state’s implementation of its Community HealthChoices program of managed long-term services and supports for low-income, elderly Pennsylvanians who seek to continue living independently in the community;
the potential impact of a repeal of the Affordable Care Act on Pennsylvanians; and
Pennsylvania’s receipt of a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic demonstration grant from the federal government to improve services and care coordination for individuals on Medicaid or CHIP.

Go here for the latest edition of PA Health Law News.

PA Safety Net Admin2017-02-08T17:39:17+00:00February 8th, 2017|Affordable Care Act, HealthChoices PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

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