Health care reform Archives - Page 7 of 13 - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

Administration Identifies Medicaid Expansion Obstacles

Corbett administration officials took advantage of a recent public briefing on Medicaid expansion to explain that the governor wants to expand the state’s Medicaid program but is seeking flexibility in how to do so that the Obama administration will not provide.
In particular, the administration wants to establish work requirements for new recipients, adjust benefits, and carve out a greater role for private health insurers.
The administration continues to negotiate these and other Medicaid expansion-related issues with federal officials.
Read more about the issues that the Corbett administration is attempting to address and the response of advocates of Medicaid expansion in this Harrisburg Patriot-News article .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-06-17T06:00:07+00:00June 17th, 2013|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

A Graphic Look at Medicaid Expansion

The Stateline web site features a number of new, excellent graphs that depict various aspects of Affordable Care Act-inspired Medicaid expansion.
The graphs show where expansion is moving forward, where it has been rejected, and where decisions have yet to be made; where Americans get their health insurance today; who might be eligible for Medicaid; and the cost of Medicaid expansion.
Find the graphs here , on the Stateline web site.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-06-12T06:00:12+00:00June 12th, 2013|Health care reform|Comments Off

PA Announces Plans for Increased Medicaid Fees

The Department of Public Welfare has unveiled its plan for increasing the fees it pays for Medicaid primary care services in 2013 and 2014. The limited-term pay increase, which will raise Medicaid primary care payments to Medicare levels, is mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
A Pennsylvania Bulletin notice that addresses how and when the fee increases will be paid, and to whom they will be paid, can be found here.
The revised fee schedule with the new, higher fees can be found here .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-05-29T06:00:17+00:00May 29th, 2013|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Bulletin, Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Medicaid Pay Raise Isn’t Reaching Docs

The Affordable Care Act-mandated fee increase for primary care physicians serving Medicaid patients is not reaching those physicians.
Or so reports the Washington Post, which writes that only a few states are paying primary care providers more money to serve Medicaid patients.
The pay raise is considered an important tool to help encourage more primary care providers to serve Medicaid patients at a time when Medicaid enrollment is expected to increase significantly because of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion provisions. Under the health reform law, Medicaid payments for primary care services, traditionally very low, are to be raised to the same level as Medicare primary care payments for two years – calendar years 2013 and 2014.
Five months into 2013, however, only Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Michigan are making the higher payments.
Pennsylvania is among the states still not making the enhanced Medicaid payments, but state officials have promised further information about their plans in the coming days.
Learn more about the thinking behind the pay raise and why most states still are not paying it in this Washington Post article.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-05-21T06:00:54+00:00May 21st, 2013|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

DPW Secretary: Medicaid Expansion No Sooner Than 2015

Even if Pennsylvania decides to go ahead and expand its Medicaid program, such expansion is unlikely before January of 2015, according to the state official who would be responsible for leading that expansion.
State officials still have not decided whether the state will expand its program as envisioned under the Affordable Care Act, but even if they decide to expand, Department of Public Welfare acting secretary Beverly Mackereth has indicated that the work involved in such an undertaking makes it unlikely that expansion could begin until January of 2015.
Currently, state officials are negotiating possible terms of expansion with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A decision on expansion most likely depends on the outcome of those negotiations.
Read more about Secretary Mackereth’s comments about a possible expansion time-frame and the issues that still need to be addressed in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-05-15T06:00:22+00:00May 15th, 2013|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Congressman Calls for Delay on DSH Cuts

Cuts in Medicare DSH and Medicaid DSH payments, scheduled to be take effect beginning in FY 2014, would be delayed for two years under a new bill proposed in Congress.
Under the DSH Reduction Relief Act of 2013, Affordable Care Act-mandated cuts in Medicare disproportionate share payments (Medicare DSH) and Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Medicaid DSH) would not begin until FY 2016, instead of in FY 2014, as the reform law requires.
The bill was proposed by Representative John Lewis (D-GA).
Read more about The DSH Reduction Relief Act in this article from Becker’s Hospital Review.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-05-13T09:36:10+00:00May 13th, 2013|Health care reform|Comments Off

DPW Questions Financial Underpinnings of Medicaid Expansion

In a letter to the leaders of the two legislative appropriations committees, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Acting Secretary Beverly Mackereth has questioned whether the state can rely on the continued availability of certain key parts of funding Medicaid expansion in the commonwealth.
In particular, Secretary Mackereth questioned whether Pennsylvania would be able to continue levying its gross receipts tax on managed care organizations, which is expected to produce $1.5 billion in revenue to use for Medicaid over the next seven years.
Pennsylvania also has a number of potential Medicaid deferrals and allowances under consideration by the federal government that could result in the state receiving less federal Medicaid matching money.
Read Secretary Mackereth’s letter to legislative leaders, and a press release that accompanies that letter, here on the web site of PR Newswire.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-05-02T06:00:58+00:00May 2nd, 2013|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Medicaid Expansion Would Save PA Money, Report Says

Expanding Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program as provided for under the Affordable Care Act would increase federal spending in the state by $3.2 billion, save the state $220 million a year, and increase tax revenue another $215 million a year, according to a new analysis by the state’s Independent Fiscal Office.
The projected savings and spending cover the years 2016 through 2021.
The Independent Fiscal Office was created in 2010 to develop revenue projections and analyze fiscal, economic, and budget issues.
Find links to the report, a press release, and a fact sheet here , on the Independent Fiscal Office’s web site.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-04-30T09:18:45+00:00April 30th, 2013|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Medicaid Expansion Would Boost PA’s Economy and Save Money, New Report Says

Expanding Medicaid eligibility as envisioned in the Affordable Care Act would boost the state’s economy and save state government money, according to a new study.
In the report “Economic and Fiscal Impact of Medicaid Expansion in Pennsylvania,” the Pennsylvania Economy League and the PA Health Funders Collaborative concluded that Medicaid expansion in the state would generate $4.4 billion in state government savings, bring $32 billion of new federal government money into the state’s economy, support as many as 40,000 new jobs and $3.6 billion in new tax revenue, and have a positive fiscal impact of more than $5 billion.
The Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania supports Medicaid expansion in the state.
Read the entire report here, on the web site of the Pennsylvania Economy League.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-04-26T06:00:07+00:00April 26th, 2013|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

IRS Issues Guidelines for Community Health Assessments

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a proposed rule governing how non-profit hospitals will conduct future community health assessments.
Such assessments are required of non-profit hospitals under the Affordable Care Act.
The new regulation also includes guidelines for hospital billing practices when serving low-income patients.
To learn more about the new regulation, find a copy of the regulation itself and an IRS fact sheet here , on the web site of the U.S. Treasury Department.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-04-12T06:00:21+00:00April 12th, 2013|Health care reform|Comments Off

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