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

News from the Pennsylvania Health Law Project

The Pennsylvania Health Law Project has issued its May 2012 newsletter. Included in it are articles on the expanded use of HealthChoices in the Medical Assistance program; information about proposed changes in the Medical Assistance Transportation Program; an update on limits on Medicaid recipients’ use of prescription drugs; the removal of children from the state’s Medicaid rolls; and the 2013 increase in Medicaid payments for primary care providers.
Download the May edition of Health Law PA News, the newsletter of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project, here .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-06-07T06:00:24+00:00June 7th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Maternity Payment Cut Takes Effect

The Medical Assistance cut in fee-for-service inpatient payments for the care of normal newborns took effect on June 1.
According to the Department of Public Welfare (DPW), the payment reduction brings Pennsylvania into line with what other states’ Medicaid programs pay for such care. According to hospital industry representatives, Pennsylvania hospitals still lose money on Medicaid deliveries and now will lose more.
This policy will be especially damaging to Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals. Although only one-third of the state’s acute-care hospitals, safety-net hospitals perform two-thirds of all Medicaid deliveries according to the March 2012 report “Pennsylvania’s Safety-Net Hospitals: Vital Providers, Vital Employers” prepared by the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania.
Read more about the state’s new policies, how it will affect hospitals, and how hospitals are responding to it in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-06-06T06:00:00+00:00June 6th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

DPW Launches “Open Government” Web Site

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) has launched a new “transparency portal” on its web site through which the public can obtain a broad array of DPW information and data.
The available information includes facility and program audits, Medical Assistance fee schedules and payments, and individual provider reimbursement data.
The reimbursement data is especially broad, offering detailed information about state Medical Assistance payments to individual providers.
Read a DPW news release about the new DPW web site feature here and visit the site itself through this link .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-06-01T14:58:49+00:00June 1st, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues|Comments Off

Medical Assistance Primary Care Rates to Rise

Rates for primary care services covered by Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance program will rise upon implementation next year of a new federal regulation recently published in draft form by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Under the proposed regulation, Pennsylvania must pay Medicare-level rates for Medicaid-covered primary care services in 2013 and 2014. Medicare rates are higher for such services than Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance rates, and under the proposed regulation the federal government, not the state, will pay for the difference between Medicare and Medicaid rates.
This new policy was mandated by the Affordable Care Act. In addition to raising fee-for-service rates, Pennsylvania will be expected to revise agreements with its contracted HealthChoices plans to ensure that they, too, pay the better rates.
The higher rates should be especially beneficial for Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals because of the large numbers of Medicaid patients they serve.
Proponents of the higher rates believe they will improve access to primary care services for the Medicaid population and possibly reduce future Medicaid costs by helping recipients get more timely care and thereby avoid more serious illnesses.
Learn more about the proposed Medicaid rate increase in a Commonwealth Fund blog entry and find the entire proposed regulation here . Interested parties have until June 11 to submit written comments to CMS.

PA Safety Net Admin2012-05-30T06:00:45+00:00May 30th, 2012|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

PA Sets Terms of New Telemedicine Expansion

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) has announced that it is expanding its use of telemedicine to serve the state’s Medical Assistance population. Telemedicine is widely considered an especially useful tool for serving rural patients.
Under the new approach, the program will expand the types of medical specialists who may engage in telemedicine, remove the requirement that referring physicians participate in telemedicine consultations, and establish specific technologies for use in such consultations.
DPW has issued a new Medical Assistance Bulletin presenting more information about its new approach.
Medical Assistance Bulletin 09-12-31, 31-12-31, 33-12-30 describes the new program and outlines procedures for engaging in telemedicine consultations. This bulletin can be found here. A fee schedule and provider codes can be found here.

PA Safety Net Admin2012-05-25T06:00:47+00:00May 25th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Medical Assistance Expands Use of Telemedicine

Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance program has unveiled plans to make greater use of telemedicine in the future.
According to a news release from the governor’s office, the program will expand the types of medical specialists who may engage in telemedicine, remove the requirement that referring physicians participate in telemedicine consultations, and establish specific technologies for use in such consultations.
Learn more about this Medical Assistance initiative by going here and reading the governor’s news release.

PA Safety Net Admin2012-05-23T13:22:36+00:00May 23rd, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Medicaid Raises Doc Pay

Primary care physicians serving Medicaid patients will receive a raise in their fees for the next two years.
The raises, a temporary measure mandated by the Affordable Care Act, will be in effect for calendar years 2013 and 2014 and will raise Medicaid’s primary care physician fees to the same level paid by Medicare for comparable services.
The $11 billion needed to pay for this raise will come from the federal government. States will not be required to provide matching funds.
Read a news release from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) about the new Medicaid primary care fee here, a CMS fact sheet here, and the newly proposed regulation here .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-05-10T10:13:00+00:00May 10th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Newborn Pay Cut

Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance program will no longer pay hospitals for care they provide to normal newborns delivered by patients who participate in the state’s fee-for-service program.
This policy change, which took effect on May 1, will have a greater impact on Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals than on other hospitals because safety-net hospitals are involved in far more Medicaid-covered deliveries than other hospitals – two-thirds of such births according to the recent SNAP report Pennsylvania’s Safety-Net Hospitals: Vital Providers, Vital Employers, which you can find here.
The policy change governing how Medicaid will pay hospitals for the care they provide to normal newborns is described in greater detail in a May 4 Medical Assistance Bulletin, which you can read here .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-05-07T06:00:56+00:00May 7th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Medicaid Info

The April 2012 edition of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project’s monthly newsletter Senior Health News includes information about the state’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program, an increase in selected Medicaid co-pays, the expansion of the state’s HealthChoices program, and dual-eligibles. Read about these issues and more here , on the web site of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project.

PA Safety Net Admin2012-05-04T06:00:36+00:00May 4th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

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