Pennsylvania Medicaid policy Archives - Page 33 of 43 - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

The Implications of Rejecting Medicaid Expansion

Twenty-one states have decided not to expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act and another six states remain undecided.
How will these decisions affect these states and their residents? How many people who might have become eligible for Medicaid will remain uninsured? How much federal Medicaid revenue will these states forgo? How will these decisions affect hospitals’ uncompensated care costs? How might payments to hospitals be affected?
Pennsylvania is one of the six states where Medicaid expansion is still being considered, and the report includes specific projections for the commonwealth. The Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) supports Medicaid expansion in the state.
A new study from the Urban Institute attempts to quantify the answers to these and other questions. Find “The Cost of Not Expanding Medicaid” here , on the web site of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-07-25T06:00:48+00:00July 25th, 2013|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

SNAP Comments on Observation Rate Proposal

The Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania has submitted a formal comment letter to the state’s Department of Public Welfare in response to the department’s expressed interest in establishing an observation rate in the state’s Medical Assistance fee-for-service program.
DPW expressed this interest in a June 29 Pennsylvania Bulletin notice.
SNAP supports the creation of an observation rate, and in its letter it outlines how it believes DPW should go about developing a rate that is fair to hospitals.
Safety-net hospitals have a special interest in this issue because observation rate candidates enter hospitals through their emergency rooms and safety-net hospitals typically have among the busiest emergency rooms in the communities they serve.
Read SNAP’s observation rate comment letter here .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-07-23T16:12:30+00:00July 23rd, 2013|Pennsylvania Bulletin, Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

Closer Scrutiny Needed for Medicaid Managed Care?

With Medicaid expansion about to begin in many states and managed care expected to be a major tool in that expansion, advocates are suggesting that states need to do a better job of monitoring the performance of the managed care plans that serve their Medicaid population.
Currently, according to advocates, different states monitor their Medicaid managed care plans for different aspects of their performance and some states do a better job than others. With relatively few federal standards, state-to-state comparisons either are difficult or impossible.
Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia have at least some Medicaid patients enrolled in managed care plans, and together, those plans receive about one out of every four dollars that the states and the federal government spend on Medicaid.
With nearly all of the state’s Medicaid recipients now in managed care plans, this issue is of special interest to Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals.
Read more about the issue, the challenges, and why this issue is now receiving attention in this Kaiser Health News report .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-07-10T06:00:18+00:00July 10th, 2013|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

PA Considering Medicaid Observation Rate

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare is considering instituting a Medicaid observation rate for some hospital services.
According to a recently published Pennsylvania Bulletin,

The Department is considering the establishment of an observation rate for hospital cases for which an inpatient admission is not medically necessary but medical observation of a patient is required. The Department is currently considering developing criteria under which observation services provided by a hospital may be compensable under the MA Program. The Department intends to establish a comprehensive rate to cover observation services determined to be compensable under the Program.

DPW will accept written comments about this proposal for the next 30 days.
Read the Pennsylvania Bulletin notice here .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-07-02T06:00:31+00:00July 2nd, 2013|Pennsylvania Bulletin, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Proposed FY 2014 Pennsylvania state budget|Comments Off

DPW Seeks to Renew Philadelphia Assessment

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare has announced its intention to seek renewal of the Philadelphia hospital assessment first authorized in 2008.
The purpose of the assessment is to generate additional revenue to fund state Medicaid expenditures for hospital outpatient and emergency department services in Philadelphia and to provide additional funding to support the city’s public health clinics.
Read the Pennsylvania Bulletin announcement of DPW’s intention here .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-07-02T06:00:20+00:00July 2nd, 2013|Pennsylvania Bulletin, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues|Comments Off

Primary Docs Can Get Medicaid Pay Raise

The Affordable Care Act calls for selected primary care providers to receive an increase in their Medicaid fees during calendar years 2013 and 2014.
The pay raise, which seeks to bring Medicaid fees to the same level as Medicare rates, is intended to induce more primary care providers to serve Medicaid patients in anticipation of the increase in Medicaid enrollment expected when the Affordable Care Act takes full effect.
Eligible providers must complete a form attesting to their eligibility for the pay raise and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare has issued the form and instructions for completing it. Find both the form and the instructions here .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-06-27T06:00:15+00:00June 27th, 2013|Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

DPW Announces Revisions of Medicaid Fee Schedule

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) has published a notice of its intention to implement changes in the Medicaid fee schedule and to update selected prior authorization requirements.
Those notices are published here, in the June 22 edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin, and the changes took effect on June 24.
DPW also published a Medical Assistance Bulletin on the procedure code updates and a table showing the updates. Find the bulletin here and the table here.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-06-26T06:00:45+00:00June 26th, 2013|Medical Assistance Bulletin, Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

PA Senate to Move on Medicaid Expansion

Pennsylvania state Senate leaders plan to bring a vote to expand the state’s Medicaid program to the Senate floor this week.
The bill, according to Senate leaders, will include conditions that will make it more palatable to more conservative Republicans and the governor. Democrats are already thought to support Medicaid expansion.
While the bill is considered likely to enjoy solid support in the Senate, it is not clear whether the state House is as interested in Medicaid expansion as envisioned under the federal Affordable Care Act.
The Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) supports Medicaid expansion in the state.
Read more about the Senate bill, who is behind it, and what the bill says in this Centre Daily Times article .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-06-24T06:00:32+00:00June 24th, 2013|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

PA Health Law Project Issues Newsletter

The Pennsylvania Health Law Project has released its latest newsletter.
Among the issues addressed in the letter are the prospects for Medicaid expansion in Pennsylvania and increased state oversight of the state’s private Medicaid managed care organizations. The newsletter also describes an effort by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to encourage all qualified health plans offered through health insurance exchanges to include “essential community providers” in their provider networks.
Find the newsletter here , on the web site of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-06-20T06:00:15+00:00June 20th, 2013|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

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

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