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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

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

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.

Hospital payment was a key focus of MACPAC’s January meeting with the Commission voting on Thursday to approve two sets of recommendations, the first addressing the structure of disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotment reductions and the second directed to improving compliance with upper payment limit requirements. Both sets of recommendations are slated for inclusion in MACPAC’s March 2019 Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP.

Later that morning, the Commission discussed a study on performance and return on investment for state program integrity strategies. This session was originally scheduled for the December meeting. Following a break for lunch, the Commission was briefed on a new report by Mathematica Policy Research, under contract to MACPAC, regarding beneficiary enrollment in the Financial Alignment Initiative, which is testing new approaches to integrating care for people who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. Later, staff presented an analysis of the factors affecting physician decisions to accept new Medicaid patients.

Friday’s sessions opened with a panel of experts discussing how utilization management policies are applied to medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Under the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act (P.L. 115-271), MACPAC is required to study utilization management policies related to MAT and report on these by late October 2019. The meeting concluded with its third and final session on hospital payment: how to account for third-party payments in the DSH definition of Medicaid shortfall.

Supporting the commissioners’ deliberations were the following presentations prepared by MACPAC staff.

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

PA Safety Net Admin2019-01-29T06:00:09+00:00January 29th, 2019|DSH hospitals, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments|Comments Off

Chatter About Medicaid Block Grants Grows

A week after a published report suggested that the Trump administration might be working on a plan to introduce Medicaid block grants, the Washington Post reports that those efforts are under way in earnest.

According to the Post,

A small group of people within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is working on a plan to allow states to ask permission for their federal Medicaid dollars to be provided in a single lump sum instead of the way they are currently awarded as a percentage of states’ total costs.

While many, including members of Congress, insist that the administration cannot move forward with such a proposal without legislation, others suggest that the administration may offer states the opportunity to participate in Medicaid block grants voluntarily, by seeking a federal waiver. What remains to be seen is whether the prospect of greater flexibility to shape their own Medicaid programs is sufficient to entice states to participate in an approach that almost certainly would result in less federal money for those programs.

Learn more about what the administration is considering and how policy-makers, industry leaders, and others are reacting to the prospect of a push toward Medicaid block grants from the Washington Post story “The Health 202: The Trump administration is working on Medicaid block grants?”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-01-25T06:00:23+00:00January 25th, 2019|Federal Medicaid issues|Comments Off

Report Looks at Work Requirements

As a growing number of states consider implementing work requirements as a condition for Medicaid eligibility, the Urban Institute has released a report that describes work requirements in various government cash assistance, nutrition assistance, and housing assistance programs and considers the degree to which those requirements have achieved their policy objectives.
The report also describes the applications that eight states have submitted to the federal government seeking permission to introduce a work requirement in their Medicaid programs.
Go here to see the Urban Institute report Work Requirements in Social Safety Net Programs: A Status Report of Work Requirements in TANF, SNAP, Housing Assistance, and Medicaid.

PA Safety Net Admin2018-01-10T06:00:29+00:00January 10th, 2018|Federal Medicaid issues|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

Medicaid Directors Meet

The National Association of Medicaid Directors held its fall conference recently outside Washington, D.C.
This is an important event at which policy-makers and policy experts meet to discuss Medicaid programs, trends, challenges, and opportunities.
Many of the materials used during that conference are now publicly available, including video clips from speeches by CMS Administrator Seema Verma and others and presentations on a number of subjects, including:

Medicaid’s role in supporting community engagement and economic mobility
busting the silos of physical and behavioral health care
alternative payment models and addressing the social determinants of health
early intervention in behavioral health
the opioid epidemic
pediatric innovations in Medicaid

Go here for links to the speeches and presentations offered at the conference.

PA Safety Net Admin2017-12-21T06:00:05+00:00December 21st, 2017|Federal Medicaid issues|Comments Off

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