Healthy PA Archives - Page 5 of 7 - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

Four in PA Congressional Delegation Question Medicaid Waiver Request

Four members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation have written to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to question a specific aspect of the state’s Medicaid waiver application.
In a letter to CMS deputy director Cindy Mann, House members Allyson Schwartz, Robert Brady, Chaka Fattah, and Matt Cartwright urge the federal agency to determine whether the state’s proposed approach to Medicaid expansion would “unacceptably limit beneficiaries’ access to family planning services.”
See their letter here.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-04-17T14:44:48+00:00April 17th, 2014|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Public Comments on PA Medicaid Expansion Plan: Thumbs Down

Most of the people who submitted formal comments to the federal government about Pennsylvania’s plan to expand its Medicaid program wrote in opposition to the proposal.
The proposal, part of the Corbett administration’s “Healthy Pennsylvania” plan, calls for the state to use federal Medicaid funds to purchase private health insurance for people newly eligible for Medicaid.
According to a Community Legal Services of Philadelphia review completed two days before the April 11 submission deadline, 95 percent of those who expressed an opinion about the proposal opposed it, three percent supported it, and two percent offered mixed views.
The Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania submitted formal comments expressing support for the Medicaid expansion proposal. SNAP’S comments can be found here.
Read a report about the comments, including why various groups did or did not support the proposal, in this Philadelphia Inquirer article.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-04-17T06:00:23+00:00April 17th, 2014|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

Deadline for Commenting on PA Medicaid Expansion Proposal Approaches

The deadline for interested parties to submit formal comments to the federal government about Pennsylvania’s request for a waiver from selected federal Medicaid requirements in expanding its Medicaid program is this Friday, April 11 at 6:00 a.m.
Interested parties may submit their comments here.
Safety-net hospitals interested in submitting comments are invited to borrow from SNAP’s comment letter, which can be found here.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-04-08T06:00:37+00:00April 8th, 2014|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Lack of Transportation Benefit in PA Medicaid Proposal Hurts, Critics Say

Pennsylvania’s application for a waiver from selected federal Medicaid requirements includes a request for permission to eliminate transportation services for Medicaid recipients.
And that hurts, some critics say.
The private insurance plans in which newly eligible Medicaid recipients would enroll under the state’s proposed Medicaid expansion plan would not be required to offer medical transportation to low-income recipients, and one critic of the state’s proposal told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that “Entitlement to health services is meaningless if you can’t access it.”
Read more about medical transportation, other so-called wraparound benefits, and how the Medicaid expansion component of the state’s Healthy Pennsylvania plan treats them in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-04-07T11:50:30+00:00April 7th, 2014|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

SNAP Endorses PA Medicaid Expansion

The Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania has endorsed Pennsylvania’s application for a waiver from selected federal Medicaid requirements so the state can expand its Medicaid program as envisioned under the Affordable Care Act.
Instead of expanding its current Medicaid program, however, the Corbett administration proposes that the newly eligible purchase approved private insurance plans, with the state to pay the premiums. This is part of the administration’s Healthy Pennsylvania proposal.
In endorsing the waiver application in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, SNAP expressed particular support for its proposal to create a Healthy Pennsylvania Safety Net Pool that would include an Uncompensated Care Pool and/or a Delivery System Reform Incentive Pool. The additional funding associated with such pools, SNAP believes, would help safety-net hospitals address the distinct needs of the low-income communities such hospitals serve.
See the letter of endorsement here, on the SNAP web site.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-04-04T09:53:00+00:00April 4th, 2014|Affordable Care Act, Health care reform, Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

Healthy PA, Medicaid Expansion in Jeopardy?

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has publicly expressed concern over whether the federal government will approve the state’s attempt to expand its Medicaid program under terms made possible by the federal health care reform law.
Both Corbett and Department of Public Welfare Secretary Beverly Mackereth have suggested that negotiations between the state and federal officials have not been going well.
The state submitted an application for a waiver from selected federal Medicaid requirements in February and has modified its proposal once since then, withdrawing a controversial mandatory job-search requirement. The application is currently undergoing a period of open public comment while state and federal officials negotiate its terms.
Under the Corbett administration’s Healthy Pennsylvania proposal, the state would expand Medicaid eligibility as envisioned under the federal Affordable Care Act but instead of simply opening up its current Medicaid program to the newly eligible, it would underwrite their enrollment in private health insurance plans chosen by those individuals.
Learn more about the latest developments in the state’s attempt to take Medicaid expansion in a decidedly different direction in this Philadelphia Inquirer article.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-04-03T08:54:11+00:00April 3rd, 2014|Affordable Care Act, Health care reform, Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

How Did Healthy PA Change?

In December, the Corbett administration released a draft of its application to the federal government for a waiver from aspects of existing Medicaid law so it could implement its “Healthy Pennsylvania” Medicaid reform and health insurance expansion program.
The public was then invited to comment on the draft application, and in late February, the administration submitted its official Medicaid waiver application to the federal government. That official application included a number of changes from the December draft, reflecting comment submitted to state officials.
What were those changes?
The state has published a brief document, “Healthy Pennsylvania Demonstration Adjustments,” that summarizes those changes. Find that document here.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-03-13T06:00:00+00:00March 13th, 2014|Health care reform, Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

PA Relents on Medicaid Work-Search Requirement

One of the most controversial aspects of the Corbett administration’s proposal to expand the state’s Medicaid program was that every able-bodied adult of working age be required to demonstrate that they were pursuing employment.
On Thursday, the administration agreed to drop that proposal in the face of opposition from the Obama administration.
Instead, the Corbett administration will propose a one-year, voluntary, incentive-based pilot program requiring participants to document their work-search efforts. Like the original work-search requirement, this proposal will be subject to federal review.
Read more about this development in Pennsylvania’s pursuit of federal approval to expand its Medicaid program in this Lancaster Online article. Find a copy of Governor Corbett’s letter dropping the controversial component and proposing an alternative here.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-03-07T06:00:25+00:00March 7th, 2014|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

PA Submits Medicaid Plan to Feds

Yesterday the Corbett administration submitted a waiver application to the federal government requesting permission to expand the state’s Medicaid program as described in its “Healthy Pennsylvania” proposal.
The Pennsylvania proposal seeks to vary from the approach taken by most states expanding their Medicaid programs in accordance with the Affordable Care Act by directing the expansion population into private health insurance plans.
A draft waiver application, released in December, was the subject of public hearings throughout the state. The Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) testified at one of those hearings and also submitted detailed written comments about the proposal; both can be found here.
The state’s waiver application, the December draft application, a summary of the application, and the written and oral comments about the proposed application submitted by interested parties can be found here, on the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare’s web site. Learn more about the proposal’s submission to the federal government and where it goes from here in this Ellwood City Ledger article and the reaction of some elected officials to the submission here.
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PA Safety Net Admin2014-02-20T06:00:20+00:00February 20th, 2014|Affordable Care Act, Health care reform, Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

Healthy PA Could Affect FQHCs

The Corbett administration’s Healthy Pennsylvania health care reform and Medicaid expansion proposal could steer low-income patients away from the state’s federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and reduce the payments those facilities receive for much of the care they deliver.
FQHCs have long provided medical care to uninsured people who had no other care options, but if Healthy Pennsylvania is adopted, many of those patients would become eligible for health insurance, whether Medicaid or subsidized by the federal government, and might choose other providers instead or might even find their FQHCs excluded from their new insurer’s provider network.
Learn more about the collision course FHQCs may find themselves on with Healthy PA in this Philadelphia Inquirer article.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-02-12T06:00:21+00:00February 12th, 2014|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

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