Pennsylvania state budget issues Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

DPW Reaches Out to Stakeholders Over Tobacco $ Loss

Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Secretary Beverly Mackereth has sent the following message to health care providers and other stakeholders that will be affected by the state’s loss of $180 million in national tobacco settlement money as a result of a recent arbitrary decision.

October 2, 2013

I am reaching out to you, our valued stakeholder, to provide you with information about the potential impact of the recent tobacco master settlement agreement (MSA) decision. Please understand this legal action and the potential next steps are in no way a reflection of the quality of your work or actions as a partner with the Department of Public Welfare (DPW). This decision stems back to circumstances that occurred in 2003.

As you may be aware, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office recently notified the Governor’s Budget Office that the state’s annual share of the tobacco MSA will be reduced by an estimated $180 million, or 60 percent of the state’s base tobacco payment, as a result of a decision by an arbitration panel to address claims from 2003.

While this decision has immediate impacts to Pennsylvania’s health and human services programs, the Corbett Administration is committed to maintaining direct services and mandatory healthcare programs. I would like to reassure you that we are working diligently to ensure services will continue without interruption for all Pennsylvanians.

The reduction will occur in the state’s April 2014 MSA payment, which supports spending in the current fiscal year. This has forced the state to freeze discretionary funding from the MSA. As of now the only DPW program affected will be uncompensated care payments to hospitals.

Please be assured, this course of action was not arrived at lightly. Immediate action is necessary in the face of such a dramatic decrease in revenues due to the MSA decision. Moving forward, the Attorney General’s Office is preparing an appeal of the decision.

The attached press release provides additional information regarding this issue. I appreciate your time and understanding as we work together on this issue.

Sincerely,
Beverly Mackereth, Secretary
Department of Public Welfare

The loss of uncompensated care payments will pose a major challenge to the state’s safety-net hospitals, which are the primary providers of care to the uninsured in Pennsylvania and the primary recipients of these funds.
Go here for the press release cited above.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-10-04T06:00:00+00:00October 4th, 2013|Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues|Comments Off

Tobacco Money Loss Imperils Hospital Uncompensated Care Payments

Pennsylvania’s loss of $180 million from the national tobacco master settlement agreement could affect the state’s Tobacco Uncompensated Care program, which provides supplemental funding to hospitals that provide significant amounts of uncompensated care.
The $180 million cut represents 60 percent of the state’s overall tobacco revenue.
According to a news release from the governor’s budget office,

The reduction will occur in the state’s April 2014 MSA [master settlement agreement] payment, which supports spending in the current year’s budget. This is forcing the state to freeze discretionary funding from the MSA, which will reduce funds for health research (Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement [CURE] grants), Life Sciences Greenhouses, uncompensated care to hospitals, and discretionary funds related to tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

To learn more about the funding loss and its implications, see the news release “Administration Receives Notification on Impacts from Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement Arbitration Panel Decision” from the governor’s budget office.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-10-03T09:22:36+00:00October 3rd, 2013|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues|Comments Off

New Pennsylvania Health Law Project Newsletter

The Pennsylvania Health Law Project has released its latest newsletter.
Features include articles about the state budget and the possible expansion of Medicaid eligibility in Pennsylvania; upcoming changes facing CHIP and PA Fair Care participants; an upcoming study on serving dual eligibles in the state; a new state Medicaid waiver application; and more.
Find the latest Pennsylvania Health Law Project newsletter here.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-08-15T06:00:04+00:00August 15th, 2013|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues|Comments Off

State Issues Medicaid Budget Summary

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare’s Office of Medical Assistance Programs has released a summary and overview of its recently passed FY 2014 Medicaid budget.
Find the overview document here .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-08-13T06:00:48+00:00August 13th, 2013|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues, Proposed FY 2014 Pennsylvania state budget|Comments Off

MAAC Meets

The Medical Assistance Advisory Committee that works with the Pennsylvania’s Department of Public Welfare met recently in Harrisburg.
Among the subjects discussed during the meeting were the state’s recently passed budget, the Medical Assistance program, the prospects for Medicaid expansion, and more.
Read the official state file note summarizing the meeting here .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-08-07T06:00:18+00:00August 7th, 2013|Meetings and notices, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues|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

Budget Bill Proposed in PA House

The chairman of the Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee has introduced a bill proposing a budget for the state’s 2014 fiscal year.
House Bill 1437, sponsored by Rep. Bill Adolph (R-Delaware), calls for $100 million less spending than the $28.4 billion budget proposed by Governor Tom Corbett in February.
The bill also includes a number of differences in proposed spending for Medicaid and Department of Health programs.
For a summary of the bill, with an emphasis on provisions with the greatest interest to Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals, please hit the “contact us” link at the top of this screen.

State Budget

PA Safety Net Admin2013-05-31T06:00:08+00:00May 31st, 2013|Pennsylvania state budget issues, Proposed FY 2014 Pennsylvania state budget|Comments Off

DPW Says Fiscal Office Understates Cost of Medicaid Expansion

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare has released a letter it sent to the state’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) rejecting many of the assumptions underlying the latter’s analysis of the cost of expanding Medicaid eligibility in the state and stating that as a result of these incorrect assumptions, the IFO has significantly understated the cost of Medicaid expansion in Pennsylvania.
According to the letter sent by acting DPW secretary Beverly Mackereth to IFO director Matthew Knittel, the IFO inaccurately characterizes the baseline year during which to account for potential costs and savings; incorrectly maintains that upfront costs – including hiring 2000 new workers at higher salaries than the IFO projects – will be less than savings; and overstates savings associated with increased federal matching funds for General Assistance recipients.
DPW also maintains in the letter that the IFO incorrectly assumes that new enrollment will take place gradually instead of fairly quickly once expansion begins; underestimates the number of new “woodwork” enrollees – individuals already eligible for Medicaid who will enroll in the program because of all the attention the eligibility expansion will receive; and prematurely assumes continued income from the gross receipts tax on Medicaid managed care organizations before the federal government has had an opportunity to decide whether the state will be permitted to continue levying that tax.
Read about the letter in this Philadelphia Business Journal article or download the letter itself here.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-05-22T06:00:40+00:00May 22nd, 2013|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues, Uncategorized|Comments Off

New DPW Secretary Testifies Before Senate

Acting Department of Public Welfare Secretary Beverly Mackereth appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee this week for the first time to present and defend her department’s proposed FY 2014 – including its Medicaid budget.
Mackereth, herself a former member of the state House, also responded to committee members who questioned Governor Corbett’s decision not to expand Medicaid eligibility in the state, as provided for in the federal Affordable Care Act.
She also promised more dialogue with the General Assembly in the future.
Read more about Ms. Mackereth’s budget testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee in this Allentown Morning Call article

State Budget

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PA Safety Net Admin2013-03-08T06:00:05+00:00March 8th, 2013|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues, Proposed FY 2014 Pennsylvania state budget|Comments Off

The Proposed FY 2014 State Budget: Part 7 of 7

Department of Health

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett recently unveiled his proposed state FY 2014 budget. The day he did, members of the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) immediately received a comprehensive memo outlining the governor’s budget proposal with an emphasis on the issues that matter most to the state’s 61 private safety-net hospitals.
Over a seven-day period, SNAP has presented in this space the highlights of the governor’s budget, again with an emphasis on Medical Assistance and other matters of special interest to Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals. In this final installment, SNAP takes a look at what that budget proposes for the state’s Department of Health.
The Department of Health’s budget calls for a number of spending cuts. Among them, it calls for the complete elimination of funding associated with its diabetes, poison control centers, Tourette Syndrome, epilepsy support services, lupus, trauma coordination, ALS support services, and biotech research programs. Together, this accounts for a $6.3 million cut in Health Department funding.
On the other hand, the department’s proposed budget includes $4 million in grants to clinics to improve access to primary care in medically underserved areas and $1 million in new money to support 24 additional loan repayment grants to enhance the recruitment of doctors to medically underserved areas.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-02-20T06:00:51+00:00February 20th, 2013|Pennsylvania state budget issues, Proposed FY 2014 Pennsylvania state budget|Comments Off

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