Federal Medicaid issues Archives - Page 9 of 12 - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

New Poverty Level Standards to Jeopardize Medicaid Eligibility?

The Trump administration is considering changing how the federal government measures inflation for the purpose of calculating the federal poverty level.

Such a change, if implemented, could potentially reduce inflation-related increases in the federal poverty level, which in turn could limit the ability of some individuals and families to qualify, or continue to qualify, for a variety of public safety-net services – including, potentially, Medicaid.

Among the possible alternatives to the current methodology for calculating inflation is the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The Obama administration also explored substituting this index for the current inflation factor.

Any change that makes it more difficult for people to qualify for Medicaid could be particularly damaging to Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, which are generally located in communities with especially large numbers of low-income residents. If patients lose their Medicaid eligibility because the criteria for participating in the program change, that could leave such hospitals serving even more uninsured patients and providing even more uncompensated care than they already do.

The federal Office of Management and Budget has issued a request for comment about various inflation factor calculation alternatives. Go here to see OMB notice Request for Comment on the Consumer Inflation Measures Produced by Federal Statistical Agencies. Comments are due in late June. Learn more from the New York Times article “Trump Administration Seeks to Redefine Formula for Calculating Poverty.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-05-10T06:00:54+00:00May 10th, 2019|Federal Medicaid issues, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

SNAP Asks Congress for Help on Medicaid DSH

Prevent Medicaid DSH cuts: that is the message the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania conveyed to Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation this week.

In a message sent to every member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, SNAP asked members to sign onto a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking her to delay Affordable Care Act-mandated cuts in Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Medicaid DSH) that are scheduled to take effect in October of this year.

If implemented, the cut would hurt 179 of Pennsylvania’s 213 hospitals, including all safety-net hospitals, and cost the state approximately $240 million in Medicaid DSH revenue in FY 2020 and $480 million a year in FYs 2021 through 2025.

See the letter requesting action on Medicaid DSH cuts here and SNAP’s message to Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation here.

PA Safety Net Admin2019-04-24T14:49:48+00:00April 24th, 2019|Affordable Care Act, DSH hospitals, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

MACPAC Recommends Changes in Medicaid Shortfall Definition

Hospitals’ calculation of their Medicaid shortfall would change under a recommendation that MACPAC voted to make to Congress. That change, in turn, could affect hospitals’ future Medicaid disproportionate share payments.

Last week the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission voted overwhelmingly to change how hospitals calculate their Medicaid shortfall: the difference between what they spend caring for their Medicaid patients and what Medicaid pays them for that care. Under MACPAC’s proposal, hospitals would need to deduct from their shortfall total all third-party payments they receive for the care they provide to their Medicaid patients.

If this proposal were to be adopted, it has the potential of changing Medicaid DSH allocations among the states and change the distribution of Medicaid DSH funds within individual states, although the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it would have little impact on either measure.

Complicating the MACPAC recommendation is last year’s federal court ruling that third-party payments could not be deducted from hospitals’ Medicaid shortfall totals because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services lacks the authority to implement such a policy. Making such a change therefore would require action by Congress.

Learn more about the MACPAC recommendation and its potential implications for hospitals and their Medicaid DSH payments in the Fierce Healthcare article “’Medicaid shortfall’ definition should change when tallying DSH payments, MACPAC says.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-04-19T06:00:38+00:00April 19th, 2019|DSH hospitals, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments|Comments Off

Delay Medicaid DSH Cut, Pelosi Says

Medicaid DSH cuts should be delayed, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told a gathering of hospital officials.

According to Speaker Pelosi,

DSH cuts threaten to erode the health of community hospitals, safety-net hospitals and rural hospitals, [affecting] the health of not only the families that rely on Medicaid, but any person who relies on these hospitals for care.

SNAP members all receive Medicaid DSH payments and would be harmed if the scheduled cut takes effect on October 1.

Learn more about Speaker Pelosi’s remarks in the Becker’s Hospital Review article “House speaker urges Congress to ease Medicaid payment cuts to hospitals serving low-income patients.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-04-15T06:00:36+00:00April 15th, 2019|DSH hospitals, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

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

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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