Pennsylvania Medicaid policy Archives - Page 28 of 43 - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

Study Points to Risk of DSH Cuts

A new study suggests that future cuts in Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) and Medicaid DSH payments could pose problems for hospitals that serve large numbers of uninsured patients.
According to a new report in the journal Health Affairs,

Such cuts in government funding of uncompensated care could pose challenges to some providers, particularly in states that have not adopted the Medicaid expansion or where implementation of health care reform is proceeding slowly.

Medicare DSH and Medicaid DSH payments help underwrite the uncompensated care hospitals provide to their uninsured patients. These payments are a vital source of revenue for Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals and Pennsylvania is among the states that have not yet adopted Medicaid expansion.
Even after Affordable Care Act reforms take effect, 25 to 30 million Americans are expected to remain uninsured. Medicare DSH payments are expected to decline $22.1 billion between now and 2019 and Medicaid DSH payments, temporarily delayed by two separate actions of Congress, are expected to decline $17.1 billion through 2020.
Learn more about the Health Affairs study in this Washington Post article and find the study itself here, on the web site of Health Affairs.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-05-07T06:00:01+00:00May 7th, 2014|Affordable Care Act, Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Mackereth Explains Healthy PA Rationale

Last week, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Secretary Beverly Mackereth met with the editorial board of the York Daily Record to talk about Healthy Pennsylvania, the Corbett administration’s proposal to expand the state’s Medicaid program using private insurers instead of an expansion of the state’s existing Medicaid program.
Among other things, Mackereth described why the administration chose to move in the direction it ultimately went.
Read a summary of that discussion here, on the web site of the York Daily Record.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-04-21T11:41:18+00:00April 21st, 2014|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

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

PA Examining Long-Term-Care Issues

With a fast-growing elderly population, Pennsylvania currently has two advisory committees looking at how to help that population tend to its medical and social needs as it ages.
The state legislature’s bipartisan Joint State Government Commission is working with an advisory group to the state House and is expected to complete its work and issue a report this summer.
Meanwhile, Governor Corbett’s recently created Pennsylvania Long-Term Care Commission held its first meeting this month and is expected to work through the end of the year.
For a closer look at the issues these two groups are addressing and how they are going about their work, see this article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-03-19T06:00:52+00:00March 19th, 2014|long-term care, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Providers Must Re-enroll to Serve PA Medicaid Population

All health care providers that serve Pennsylvania’s Medicaid population must re-enroll with the state if they wish to continue doing so.
The requirement, established under the Affordable Care Act, applies to providers that participate in both the state’s Medicaid managed care and fee-for-service programs.
Additional information can be found about the requirement and how to re-enroll in this Medical Assistance Bulletin notice.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-03-14T06:00:34+00:00March 14th, 2014|Medical Assistance Bulletin, Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

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