Pennsylvania Medicaid Expansion Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

Study Points to Risk of DSH Cuts

A new study suggests that future cuts in Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) and Medicaid DSH payments could pose problems for hospitals that serve large numbers of uninsured patients.
According to a new report in the journal Health Affairs,

Such cuts in government funding of uncompensated care could pose challenges to some providers, particularly in states that have not adopted the Medicaid expansion or where implementation of health care reform is proceeding slowly.

Medicare DSH and Medicaid DSH payments help underwrite the uncompensated care hospitals provide to their uninsured patients. These payments are a vital source of revenue for Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals and Pennsylvania is among the states that have not yet adopted Medicaid expansion.
Even after Affordable Care Act reforms take effect, 25 to 30 million Americans are expected to remain uninsured. Medicare DSH payments are expected to decline $22.1 billion between now and 2019 and Medicaid DSH payments, temporarily delayed by two separate actions of Congress, are expected to decline $17.1 billion through 2020.
Learn more about the Health Affairs study in this Washington Post article and find the study itself here, on the web site of Health Affairs.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-05-07T06:00:01+00:00May 7th, 2014|Affordable Care Act, Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Mackereth Explains Healthy PA Rationale

Last week, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare Secretary Beverly Mackereth met with the editorial board of the York Daily Record to talk about Healthy Pennsylvania, the Corbett administration’s proposal to expand the state’s Medicaid program using private insurers instead of an expansion of the state’s existing Medicaid program.
Among other things, Mackereth described why the administration chose to move in the direction it ultimately went.
Read a summary of that discussion here, on the web site of the York Daily Record.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-04-21T11:41:18+00:00April 21st, 2014|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Four in PA Congressional Delegation Question Medicaid Waiver Request

Four members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation have written to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to question a specific aspect of the state’s Medicaid waiver application.
In a letter to CMS deputy director Cindy Mann, House members Allyson Schwartz, Robert Brady, Chaka Fattah, and Matt Cartwright urge the federal agency to determine whether the state’s proposed approach to Medicaid expansion would “unacceptably limit beneficiaries’ access to family planning services.”
See their letter here.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-04-17T14:44:48+00:00April 17th, 2014|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Deadline for Commenting on PA Medicaid Expansion Proposal Approaches

The deadline for interested parties to submit formal comments to the federal government about Pennsylvania’s request for a waiver from selected federal Medicaid requirements in expanding its Medicaid program is this Friday, April 11 at 6:00 a.m.
Interested parties may submit their comments here.
Safety-net hospitals interested in submitting comments are invited to borrow from SNAP’s comment letter, which can be found here.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-04-08T06:00:37+00:00April 8th, 2014|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Healthy PA, Medicaid Expansion in Jeopardy?

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has publicly expressed concern over whether the federal government will approve the state’s attempt to expand its Medicaid program under terms made possible by the federal health care reform law.
Both Corbett and Department of Public Welfare Secretary Beverly Mackereth have suggested that negotiations between the state and federal officials have not been going well.
The state submitted an application for a waiver from selected federal Medicaid requirements in February and has modified its proposal once since then, withdrawing a controversial mandatory job-search requirement. The application is currently undergoing a period of open public comment while state and federal officials negotiate its terms.
Under the Corbett administration’s Healthy Pennsylvania proposal, the state would expand Medicaid eligibility as envisioned under the federal Affordable Care Act but instead of simply opening up its current Medicaid program to the newly eligible, it would underwrite their enrollment in private health insurance plans chosen by those individuals.
Learn more about the latest developments in the state’s attempt to take Medicaid expansion in a decidedly different direction in this Philadelphia Inquirer article.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-04-03T08:54:11+00:00April 3rd, 2014|Affordable Care Act, Health care reform, Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

PA Relents on Medicaid Work-Search Requirement

One of the most controversial aspects of the Corbett administration’s proposal to expand the state’s Medicaid program was that every able-bodied adult of working age be required to demonstrate that they were pursuing employment.
On Thursday, the administration agreed to drop that proposal in the face of opposition from the Obama administration.
Instead, the Corbett administration will propose a one-year, voluntary, incentive-based pilot program requiring participants to document their work-search efforts. Like the original work-search requirement, this proposal will be subject to federal review.
Read more about this development in Pennsylvania’s pursuit of federal approval to expand its Medicaid program in this Lancaster Online article. Find a copy of Governor Corbett’s letter dropping the controversial component and proposing an alternative here.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-03-07T06:00:25+00:00March 7th, 2014|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

PA Seeks Federal OK for Medicaid Expansion

The Corbett administration is asking the federal government to authorize the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program to serve another 500,000 people.
Healthy Pennsylvania, the reform plan unveiled by the Corbett administration in September, calls for expanding eligibility for Medicaid as envisioned in the federal Affordable Care Act but providing coverage to newly eligible individuals through private insurers
Under the plan, most newly eligible recipients would select state-subsidized insurance through the federal health insurance marketplace and receive the same benefits as regular commercial customers.
Healthy Pennsylvania also calls for streamlined benefits packages, enrollee premiums, and a work search requirement.
The formal unveiling of the plan is linked to the state’s application to the federal government for a waiver from selected federal Medicaid requirements. While states routinely request such waivers, each waiver is subject to individual scrutiny and negotiation between the state and federal governments after a period of public comment at the state level.
To learn more about the Healthy Pennsylvania proposal, see this Philadelphia Inquirer article. The administration also has published a description of its proposed application for the federal waiver, including information about how interested parties may comment on the proposal, in the Pennsylvania Bulletin; that notice can be found here. The complete draft waiver application can be found here.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-12-06T10:48:35+00:00December 6th, 2013|Affordable Care Act, Health care reform, Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Bulletin, Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Corbett Presents Health Care, Medicaid Proposal

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has unveiled a new “Healthy PA” proposal that includes the means through which the state would extend Medicaid coverage to approximately 520,000 additional people.
The new Medicaid recipients, instead of enrolling in the state’s traditional Medicaid program, would purchase their health insurance through the state’s health insurance exchange, a creation of the Affordable Care Act.
Funding for the new recipients would come almost entirely from the federal government, also through the Affordable Care Act.
Pennsylvania has long been one of the states that has resisted expanding its Medicaid population – a decision made optional by the Supreme Court after a challenge to the 2010 reform law’s constitutionality.
Read a summary of the Healthy PA plan, and find a link to the plan itself here, on the state’s own web site.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-09-17T06:00:26+00:00September 17th, 2013|Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Medicaid Expansion to Ease Hospitals’ Uncompensated Care But Not in PA

Hospitals in states that expand their Medicaid programs under provisions of the Affordable Care Act should see a reduction in their uncompensated care once people begin applying for Medicaid benefits.
That will not be happening in Pennsylvania, however, because the state is not expanding eligibility for its Medicaid program.
In states that do expand their programs, hospitals will continue to lose money serving Medicaid patients because Medicaid payments seldom cover the cost of the services hospitals provide. Demand for Medicaid services will grow in these states, moreover, as more people become eligible for benefits and some who have not had regular access to care for years begin to use their new benefits to address long-standing medical problems.
Recent published reports suggest that the Corbett administration is working on an expansion plan, to be negotiated with the federal government, and that this plan may be revealed to the public this fall.
Michigan became the most recent state to decide to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act and expand its Medicaid program. For a look at how Medicaid expansion will affect hospitals in that state, see this Detroit Free Press article .

PA Safety Net Admin2013-09-04T13:40:02+00:00September 4th, 2013|Affordable Care Act, Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

PA Inching Closer to Medicaid Expansion

Pennsylvania state officials are working on a proposal to expand Medicaid eligibility in the state as provided for in the Affordable Care Act.
But newly eligible Pennsylvanians would not participate in the state’s current Medicaid program.
Speaking to a rotary club in York, Department of Public Welfare Secretary Bev Mackereth told her audience that because the state lacks confidence in the willingness of the federal government to continue funding care for new Medicaid enrollees, the state is developing a plan to present different Medicaid options to newly eligible people.
State officials continue to negotiate the terms of such a program with the federal government and anticipate submitting their proposal to the federal government in the near future. If approved, they do not anticipate launching such an initiative until at least January of 2015.
Read more about the state’s plans in this Calkins Media report.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-08-30T06:00:24+00:00August 30th, 2013|Affordable Care Act, Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

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