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SNAPShots

Eliminate Medicaid DSH Cut, SNAP Asks PA Delegation

A Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government in FY 2021 should eliminate a cut in federal Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) allotments to the states, and the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania has written to the state’s congressional delegation asking its members to convey this message to congressional leaders.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logoThe cut was mandated by the 2010 Affordable Care Act but has never been implemented.

In its letter to the delegation, SNAP wrote that

The Medicaid DSH cut was predicated on the expectation that the Affordable Care Act would greatly reduce the number of uninsured Americans, and while it has, millions remain uninsured, including nearly 700,000 Pennsylvanians – a number thought to be rising because of the job loss associated with COVID-19. When these people are sick or injured, most will turn to the state’s 41 private safety-net hospitals for care. These hospitals depend heavily on their Medicaid DSH payments to underwrite the cost of care for their uninsured patients, so they have never needed the resources afforded by Medicaid DSH more than they do today. Congress has always questioned the wisdom of this cut and has never permitted those cuts to go into effect. The most recent delay expires after November 30..

Because they serve so many uninsured and underinsured patients, Medicaid DSH payments from the state are especially important for Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals.

Learn more from SNAP’s Medicaid DSH letter to Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation.

2020-09-15T06:00:16+00:00September 15th, 2020|Affordable Care Act, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off on Eliminate Medicaid DSH Cut, SNAP Asks PA Delegation

Administration Shares Regulatory Priorities for 2020

The Trump administration’s health care regulatory priorities for 2020 have been outlined by the Office of Management and Budget in a newly released “Statement of Regulatory Priorities for Fiscal Year 2020.”

The statement, an annual OMB document, organizes the priorities as follows:

  • Facilitating patient-centered markets
  • Fixing health care financing through protecting private insurance and Medicare
  • Fixing health care financing through reforming the individual market
  • Fixing health care financing through making the ACA and Medicaid fiscally sustainable
  • Bringing value to health care through price and quality transparency
  • Bringing value to health care through patient-centered health IT
  • Bringing value to health care through deregulation, especially for coordinated care
  • Bringing value to health care through tackling the high cost of prescription drugs
  • Bringing value to health care through accelerated drug and device approval and reimbursement
  1. Promoting health and protecting life
  • Addressing impactable health challenges: kidney health
  • Addressing impactable health challenges: combatting the opioid crisis
  • Protecting conscience and life at all stages
  • Reducing the disease and death associated with tobacco use
  1. Promoting independence
  • Returning TANF to promoting work, marriage and family
  • Supporting adoption
  • Empowering Americans to improve their nutrition
  • Promoting flexibility for states, grantees, and regulated entities

Learn more about the regulatory directions the administration intends to take for the rest of its 2020 fiscal year in the newly released “Statement of Regulatory Priorities for Fiscal Year 2020.”  Go here to see the complete list of regulations that the Department of Health and Human Services intends to pursue in FY 2020, including 55 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

 

2019-11-22T06:00:11+00:00November 22nd, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicare|Comments Off on Administration Shares Regulatory Priorities for 2020

Safety-Net Hospitals Gird for Loss of Medicaid DSH Money

Safety-net hospitals and others will lose a significant portion of their Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) payments on November 22 unless Congress delays implementation of the cut in those payments that was mandated by the Affordable Care Act.

And hospitals that receive these payments are now preparing for the worst.

The Medicaid DSH cut was included in the 2010 health care reform law in anticipation of a great reduction in the number of uninsured people leaving hospitals providing much less uncompensated care and therefore not in need of as much DSH money.  The law’s reach has not proven to be as great as anticipated, however, and two developments since the law’s passage have put a damper on the expected rise in the number of insured Americans:  a court decision that made it optional for states to expand their Medicaid program and the repeal of the requirement that everyone purchase health insurance.

Four times Congress has voted to delay the Medicaid DSH cut because so many people remained uninsured.  Now, however, the most recent delay in implementation of the cut, via a provision in the continuing resolution currently funding the federal government, expires on November 21, and hospitals – many of them already with razor-thin margins – are preparing for the worst:  a major reduction of their federal Medicaid DSH money.

Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals would face potentially major harm if this cut were to be implemented, so last month  SNAP asked members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to support a bipartisan movement in Congress to delay the Medicaid DSH cut for two years.

Learn more about the prospect of a major Medicaid DSH cut later this month, how it might affect safety-net hospitals – including the kinds of private safety-net hospitals represented by NASH – and what some hospitals are doing to prepare for the possibility in the Stateline article “Rural and Safety Net Hospitals Prepare for Cut in Federal Support.”

2019-11-04T06:00:59+00:00November 4th, 2019|Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off on Safety-Net Hospitals Gird for Loss of Medicaid DSH Money

ACA May be Improving, Saving Lives

The insurance expansion made possible by the Affordable Care Act may be improving and even saving lives, some studies and anecdotal evidence suggest.

While observers warn that it is difficult to attempt to render a final verdict on the reform law’s insurance expansion and its impact, various studies and observations point to encouraging developments.  Among them:

  • High blood pressure is being detected at a higher rate now among people who bought insurance as a result of the ACA than it was prior to the law’s passage.
  • Fewer 19-26 year-olds, now permitted to remain on their parents’ health insurance, are choosing not to see a doctor about their asthma because of the cost of seeking care.
  • Women in Michigan report having an easier time obtaining birth control pills.
  • Participants in a Michigan program are reporting an increased likelihood of learning they have chronic medical conditions than was the case before they were insured.
  • People between their mid-50s and mid-60s living in states that expanded their Medicaid programs, and who took advantage of that expansion, had a lower death rate than similar people in non-expansion states.

Pennsylvania is among the 37 states (including the District of Columbia) that took advantage of the Affordable Care Act to expand its Medicaid program.

Learn more about some of the documented and observed benefits of the Affordable Care Act’s improved access to health insurance in the Washington Post article “With the Affordable Care Act’s future in doubt, evidence grows that it saves lives.”

2019-10-02T15:52:54+00:00October 2nd, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off on ACA May be Improving, Saving Lives

Millions Eligible for Health Insurance Remain Uninsured

More than 15 million Americans who are currently entitled to free or subsidized health insurance are currently uninsured.

Among them are 11 million who are eligible for Medicaid but have not applied for benefits and 4.2 million who could afford insurance with the help of federal premium subsidies and either have decided not to take advantage of those subsidies or are unaware of the availability of such subsidies.

In addition, another two million people would be eligible for Medicaid if their states expanded their Medicaid program as authorized by the Affordable Care Act.

In light of such figures, it is not entirely surprising that the uninsured rate, according to the census bureau, rose last year for the first time since implementation of the Affordable Care Act. That uninsured rate, 15 percent at the time the law was adopted in 2010, fell to 7.9 percent in 2017 but rose to 8.5 percent in 2018. The uninsured rate has especially risen among Hispanics and the foreign born.

Another possible reason for the rise in the number of uninsured Americans: the federal government has greatly reduced its outreach effort to inform people about the various options they have for obtaining insurance.

In Pennsylvania, a state with a population of 12.8 million, the number of uninsured people increased just 700 from 2017 to 2018.  699,000 residents of the state are currently uninsured.

Learn more about who is uninsured and why the uninsured rate has risen in the Washington Post story “Millions of Americans aren’t getting health insurance, even though they’re eligible for free or affordable plans.”

2019-09-16T06:00:48+00:00September 16th, 2019|Affordable Care Act|Comments Off on Millions Eligible for Health Insurance Remain Uninsured

ACA’s Medicaid Pay Bump Helped But Benefits Now Lost, Study Says

Health status and access to care improved for Medicaid patients when the Affordable Care Act mandated a temporary rate increase for physicians serving newly insured patients covered through that law’s Medicaid expansion.

But when the mandate for increased physician payments ended and state Medicaid programs reverted to their previous, lower payments, many of those benefits were lost.

Or so reports a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

According to the study, even a $10 rate increase improved access to care enough to reduce by 13 percent Medicaid recipients’ complaints about not being about to find a doctor.  Utilization also increased.  The temporary Medicaid pay increase has even been credited with improving school attendance and reducing chronic absenteeism.

Despite the benefits of the temporary increase in Medicaid payments to physicians, most states returned to lower payments when the mandated ended, most of the gains resulting from the better pay for treating Medicaid patients disappeared, and the disparities between privately insured individuals and Medicaid patients returned to their pre-Affordable Care Act levels.

Researchers estimate that increasing Medicaid payments to physicians by an average of $26 a visit would eliminate disparities in access to care.

These findings are especially relevant to Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals because the communities they serve have so many more Medicaid patients than the typical American community.

Learn more from the National Bureau of Economic Resarch study “The Impacts of Physician Payments on Patient Access, Use, and Health” and from the Healthcare Dive report “Even $10 increase in Medicaid payments helps erase disparities in care access, study says.”

2019-07-24T06:00:47+00:00July 24th, 2019|Affordable Care Act|Comments Off on ACA’s Medicaid Pay Bump Helped But Benefits Now Lost, Study Says

PA May Take Over Insurance Exchange

Pennsylvania may soon assume responsibility for providing a health insurance exchange for its residents.

When the Affordable Care Act was adopted in 2010, states were given the option of establishing their own marketplaces for health insurance offered under the reform law or having their citizens use a federal exchange established for the same purpose.  Pennsylvania chose to have its residents use the federal exchange, but now, a law changing that is making its way through the state legislature.

Harrisburg, PA capital buildingHouse Bill 3, with more than 80 sponsors from both parties, would direct the state to establish its own health insurance exchange and establish a Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Fund to pay for it.

After years of ceding this responsibility to the federal government, some state lawmakers now believe the state can run its own exchange more efficiently and save money by operating the exchange for less than it currently pays the federal government for use of the federal exchange.  The bill’s sponsors also believe that taking over the exchange will enable the state to seek a federal reinsurance waiver that should reduce health insurance premiums five to ten percent in Pennsylvania.

House Bill 3 will be considered by the House Insurance Committee.

Learn more about what members of the House seek in the WITF radio article “Plan for Pennsylvania to take over health insurance marketplace gaining ground”; read a co-sponsor memo to state House members asking them to co-sponsor the bill; and read House Bill 3 itself.

 

2019-06-10T06:00:10+00:00June 10th, 2019|Affordable Care Act|Comments Off on PA May Take Over Insurance Exchange

Medicaid Expansion Helps Pregnant Women and Their Babies

An intuitive assumption now has evidence to support it:  Medicaid expansion has improved the health of pregnant women and their babies.

According to a new study from the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families,

…states that expand Medicaid improve the health of women of childbearing age:  increasing access to preventive care, reducing adverse health outcomes before, during and after pregnancies, and reducing maternal mortality rates.

Better health for women of childbearing age also means better health for their infants.  States that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act saw a 50 percent greater reduction in infant mortality than non-expansion states.

The report notes that the number of uninsured women of childbearing age in Pennsylvania fell 49 percent during the three years after Pennsylvania expanded its Medicaid program.  Significant numbers of these newly insured women are served by Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals.

Learn more, including specific health benefits enjoyed by pregnant women and their babies, in the Georgetown study “Medicaid Expansion Fills Gaps in Maternal Health Coverage Leading to Healthier Mothers and Babies.”

 

2019-06-03T16:17:14+00:00June 3rd, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off on Medicaid Expansion Helps Pregnant Women and Their Babies

Uninsured ED and Inpatient Visits Down Since ACA

Uninsured hospital admissions and emergency department visits are down since passage of the Affordable Care Act.

And Medicaid-covered admissions and ER visits are up, according to a new analysis.

Hospital buildingThe report, published on the JAMA Network Open, found that ER visits by uninsured patients fell from 16 percent to eight percent between 2006 and 2016, with most of this decline after 2014, while uninsured discharges fell from six percent to four percent.

The rate of uninsured ER visits declined, moreover, at a time when overall ER visits continued to rise.

While the Affordable Care Act is likely the cause of most of these changes, other contributing factors include the emergence of urgent care facilities, telemedicine, and free-standing ERs as well as new payment models and rules.

The study’s findings are especially good news for Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals because they care for so many more low-income patients than other hospitals and have benefited from the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of access to insurance, whether through Medicaid expansion or the private health insurance market.

Learn more in the JAMA Network Open article “US Emergency Department Visits and Hospital Discharges Among Uninsured Patients Before and After Implementation of the Affordable Care Act.”

 

2019-05-02T06:00:28+00:00May 2nd, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off on Uninsured ED and Inpatient Visits Down Since ACA

ACA Repeal Would Drive Up Uninsured, Uncompensated Care

At the same time that the Trump administration announced that it has asked a federal court to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act, the Urban Institute has published a report detailing the potential impact of the health care reform law’s repeal.

According to the Urban Institute report, repealing the entire Affordable Care Act would add almost 20 million Americans to the ranks of the uninsured.  Medicaid and CHIP enrollment would fall by 15.4 million people and millions of others would lose the tax credits they used to purchase insurance.  Some would purchase insurance with limited benefits and individual plan premiums would rise while others would go uninsured.

In addition, repeal of the Affordable Care Act would lead to an 82 percent increase in hospital uncompensated care, to more than $50 billion.  About half of the states would see the amount of uncompensated care provided by their hospitals double, the Urban Institute estimates.

Repeal of the Affordable Care Act would pose an especially great financial challenge for Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals because they care for so many Medicaid- and CHIP-covered and low-income patients who might lose their coverage if the reform law is repealed.  About 700,000 new people have enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program since the state implemented the Affordable Care Act’s optional Medicaid expansion.

Learn more from the Healthcare Dive article “Killing ACA would lead to huge spikes in uncompensated care” and from the Urban Institute report State-by-State Estimates of the Coverage and Funding Consequences of Full Repeal of the ACA.

 

2019-03-28T06:00:09+00:00March 28th, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Federal Medicaid issues, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off on ACA Repeal Would Drive Up Uninsured, Uncompensated Care
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