Children's Health Insurance Program Archives - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

MACPAC Issues Recommendations to Congress

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission has submitted its annual report to Congress on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

The report includes recommendations for:

improving Medicaid’s responsiveness during economic downturns
addressing concerns about high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality;
reexamining Medicaid’s estate recovery policies
integrating care for people who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare
improving hospital payment policy for the nation’s safety-net hospitals

MACPAC is a non-partisan legislative branch agency that “provides policy and data analysis and makes recommendations to Congress, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the states on a wide array of issues affecting Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).” Its mandate calls for it to address matters such as Medicaid and CHIP payment, eligibility, enrollment and retention, coverage, access to care, quality of care, and the programs’ interaction with Medicare and the health care system generally.

Because Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals care for so many more Medicaid and CHIP participants than the typical community hospital, MACPAC’s deliberations are especially important to them.

Learn more about MACPAC’s recommendations in its Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP.

PA Safety Net Admin2021-03-23T06:00:52+00:00March 23rd, 2021|Federal Medicaid issues|Comments Off

Feds Propose New Medicaid Managed Care Regs

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed its first major changes in regulations governing Medicaid managed care in more than a decade.
In a 653-page draft regulation published on Monday, CMS proposes imposing a medical-loss ratio on Medicaid managed care plans; establishing new standards for adequate provider networks; partially lifting the ban on payments to institutions for mental diseases; pursuing greater transparency in rate-setting; and new quality initiatives that mirror those of Medicare and the federal marketplace.
In addition, the proposed regulation calls for new marketing guidelines for Medicaid managed care plans, improved access to information for Medicaid beneficiaries, and new program integrity measures. It also proposes better aligning the governance of CHIP with Medicaid, new requirements for managed long-term services and supports, and new tools for fostering delivery system reform at the state level.
With virtually all Medicaid recipients in Pennsylvania now enrolled in managed care plans, this regulation will be significant for the state’s safety-net hospitals.
Interested parties have until July 27 to submit comments to CMS about the proposals.
To learn more about this major regulatory proposal, see this Kaiser Health News article; find the regulation here; and see this CMS fact sheet on the draft regulation.

PA Safety Net Admin2015-05-28T06:00:35+00:00May 28th, 2015|Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

GAO Reports on CHIP Extension

As a House-approved bill that would extend authorization for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two years awaits Senate consideration, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a mandated evaluation of the program.
Among the GAO’s findings, it concluded that children enrolled in the program

… (1) had substantially better access to care, service use, and preventive care when compared with uninsured children; and (2) experienced comparable access and service use when compared with privately insured children.

It also found that nearly all children between the age of one and two enrolled in CHIP or Medicaid made at least one visit to a primary care physician in 2013; that the program’s costs for families were almost always less than states’ benchmark plans established under the Affordable Care Act; and that its benefits were generally comparable to those offered by benchmark plans.
For a closer look at the GAO report Children’s Health Insurance Program: Effects on Coverage and Access, and Considerations for Extending Fund, find links to a summary and the full report here, on the GAO web site.

PA Safety Net Admin2015-04-02T06:00:52+00:00April 2nd, 2015|Uncategorized|Comments Off

MACPAC Looks at Medicaid, CHIP Issues

The non-partisan federal agency charged with advising Congress, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the states on matters involving Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) met last week in Washington, D.C.
The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) addressed a number of CHIP-related issues during its September 18-19 meetings, including the future of the program, its funding, state experiences with CHIP changes, and consumer protections.
MACPAC also looked at a variety of Medicaid issues, including state Medicaid expansions through premium assistance, enrollment so far in 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Medicaid program integrity plan, early experiences of new enrollees, and future reductions in Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Medicaid DSH).
CHIP and Medicaid are especially important for Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals because they serve so many low-income patients. Those hospitals also are very concerned about future reductions in Medicaid DSH payments.
For a summary of the commission’s deliberations, see this CQ HealthBeat article presented by the Commonwealth Fund.
To see the presentations made during the two-day session go here, to MACPAC’s web site.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-09-23T06:00:28+00:00September 23rd, 2014|Uncategorized|Comments Off

New Pennsylvania Health Law Project Newsletter

The Pennsylvania Health Law Project has published its latest newsletter.
Among the articles are stories about the preservation of the state’s Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities Program (MAWD); new funding for home- and community-based services for people with disabilities; a clarification of Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) benefits; and more.
Find the newsletter here.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-08-18T06:00:24+00:00August 18th, 2014|Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

MACPAC Recommends Steps to Ensure Continuity of Care

Citing income volatility among low-income Americans, the federal agency charged with analyzing Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has recommended that Congress adopt measures to ensure that low-income Americans retain health insurance as their income fluctuates above and below the federal poverty level.
In its March report to Congress, MACPAC (the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission) recommends that Congress empower states to extend coverage to eligible adults for an entire year to ensure that as those adults become eligible for Medicaid, lose Medicaid eligibility as their income rises, and then become eligible again because of unemployment or illness, they can maintain continuity of coverage and care.
MACPAC also recommends that Congress extend the current transitional medical assistance program so low-income parents who move into the workforce do not immediately lose their Medicaid coverage and that it eliminate the waiting period for CHIP eligibility and prohibit CHIP premiums for children from families whose income is less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
MACPAC is a non-partisan federal agency charged with providing policy and data analysis to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP and making recommendations to Congress, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the states on a wide range of issues affecting these programs.
For more information about MACPAC’s March 2014 report and recommendations, see this MACPAC news release or find the entire report here.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-03-21T06:00:49+00:00March 21st, 2014|Uncategorized|Comments Off

Delay in Switch From CHIP to Medicaid

The federal government is permitting Pennsylvania to delay shifting children currently enrolled in the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) into Medicaid.
The state has objected to such a transition, which is mandated by the Affordable Care Act, and is in the process of attempting to negotiate a compromise with federal officials. Those federal officials have agreed to delay the required transition until they have an opportunity to review the state’s new proposal, which should be delivered later this week.
Learn more about this issue in this article in The (Cumberland County) Sentinel.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-12-10T06:00:51+00:00December 10th, 2013|Affordable Care Act, Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

MACPAC Reports to Congress

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) has issued its March 2013 report to Congress.
The agency, created to advise Congress on Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) issues, offered two recommendations in its report.
First, it recommended that Congress authorize states to implement 12-month eligibility for adults enrolled in Medicaid and children enrolled in CHIP, in much the same manner as they now do for children enrolled in Medicaid.
And second, MACPAC urged Congress to fund permanently Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA), which enables families that become ineligible for Medicaid because they now earn more money than the program’s limit to retain their Medicaid eligibility for several additional months.
The MACPAC report also includes analyses of several issues involving services for dually eligible (Medicare and Medicaid) individuals.
Because Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals serve so many Medicaid, CHIP, and dually eligible patients, MACPAC’s recommendations and analyses can be especially important to them.
Find the MACPAC March 2013 report here .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-03-25T06:00:01+00:00March 25th, 2013|Uncategorized|Comments Off

The Proposed FY 2014 State Budget: Part 6 of 7

The Children’s Health Insurance Program

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 presents 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. Today, SNAP takes a look at what the proposed budget says about the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
The governor’s proposed FY 2014 budget includes $24 million in new money for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This additional funding will support the addition of more than 9300 children to the program.
Tomorrow: Department of Health

PA Safety Net Admin2013-02-19T06:00:46+00:00February 19th, 2013|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues, Proposed FY 2014 Pennsylvania state budget|Comments Off

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