Pennsylvania Medicaid Archives - Page 19 of 21 - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

PA Prepares to Boost Medicaid Primary Care Rates

Pennsylvania will soon begin paying primary care providers more for the services they deliver to their Medical Assistance patients.
Under the Affordable Care Act, state Medicaid programs are required to pay primary care providers Medicare-level fees for calendar years 2013 and 2014. This policy was adopted as part of a broader effort to recruit more physicians to serve Medicaid patients at a time when Medicaid enrollment will increase significantly in most states.
Now, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) is presenting its plan for how it will go about implementing this federal requirement.
DPW has issued a new Medical Assistance Bulletin titled “Medical Assistance Program Fee for Select Primary Care Services and Physician Attestation Form” that identifies eligible providers and explains how they can go about receiving the enhanced payments. That bulletin can be found here. DPW also has issued an attestation form through which providers can assert their eligibility for the enhanced payments; that form, and directions for completing and submitting it, can be found here.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-01-29T06:00:39+00:00January 29th, 2013|Health care reform, Medical Assistance Bulletin, Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Hearing Promotes Medicaid Expansion in PA

Democratic members of the state Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing in Philadelphia to promote expansion of the state’s Medicaid (Medical Assistance) program.
Participating legislators took testimony from representatives of a number of organizations that support Medicaid expansion, which is an optional component of the Affordable Care Act.
The Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) supports Medicaid expansion in the state.
Governor Corbett has not yet announced his decision on Medicaid expansion but is thought to be leaning against it. The General Assembly members who held the hearing are in the minority party in the state senate.
Read more about the hearing, the issues, and the testimony offered in this Philadelphia Inquirer article.

PA Safety Net Admin2013-01-25T12:06:55+00:00January 25th, 2013|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

SNAP Seeks Provider Fee Help from PA Congressional Delegation

In a message to members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) has asked elected officials in Washington, D.C. to protect the state’s ability to levy assessments on providers to help fund the commonwealth’s Medicaid program. The proceeds from the state’s current provider assessments, SNAP notes, have made a major difference in ensuring the ability of Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals to continue serving their many Medicaid patients.
Read SNAP’s message to the Pennsylvania congressional delegation here Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logo .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-12-26T15:00:08+00:00December 26th, 2012|Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

DPW Announces Fee Schedule Changes

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare has issued a Medical Assistance Bulletin detailing changes in the fee-for-service fee schedule. The changes take effect immediately.

Read the bulletin with the changes here .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-12-19T06:00:54+00:00December 19th, 2012|Medical Assistance Bulletin, Meetings and notices, Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Sneak Peek: PA Medicaid Costs to Rise $650 Million in FY 2014

In its mid-year budget briefing, the Corbett administration projects that Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance costs will rise $650 million in the state’s 2014 fiscal year, which will begin on July 1, 2013.
The budget briefing also noted that the governor has directed state agencies to maintain level funding in their proposed FY 2014 budgets, that level funding essentially means a cut of seven to eight percent because of rising personnel costs, and that the governor “has reiterated that no new taxes will be part of the 2013-14 budget.”
Although the governor does not present his proposed FY 2014 budget for another two months, this raises the question of how the state might pay these increased Medicaid costs – or if next year’s budget might include payment cuts for the state’s Medicaid providers.
Cut would be particularly burdensome to Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals because of the especially high numbers of Medicaid patients they serve and their unusual dependence on Medicaid revenue.
Read about the mid-year budget briefing in this PA Independent article and find the budget briefing itself here .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-12-10T06:00:27+00:00December 10th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues|Comments Off

Governors Will Give In On Medicaid Expansion, Experts Predict

Lured by billions of dollars in federal money, governors resisting the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion option will eventually give in and expand their states’ Medicaid programs as provided for in the 2010 health care reform law.
Or so predict several experts who participated in a recent health policy forum in Washington, D.C.
Some may not do so right away, the experts warned, but the financial benefits of expanding their Medicaid programs and capturing billions in federal Medicaid matching money will eventually become too much to resist.
Pennsylvania is among many states still not committed to Medicaid expansion. In recent public statements, Governor Tom Corbett has suggested that the state cannot afford to spend the additional money expansion would require.
Read more about the policy forum and the experts’ predictions in this Politico article .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-12-03T06:00:59+00:00December 3rd, 2012|Health care reform, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Pennsylvania and OB DSH Payments

As part of a three-part series titled “Labor Pains,” the Philadelphia Business Journal has documented the OB/NICU disproportionate share (DSH) payments that Philadelphia-area hospitals have received from Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program since 2007. Many of the recipients are safety-net hospitals, including a number of members of the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP).
Read about the payments and why they were created and gain access to other parts of the “Labor Pains” series via this Philadelphia Business Journal article .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-11-26T06:00:18+00:00November 26th, 2012|Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

Corbett Hints at No PA Medicaid Expansion

Without explicitly ruling out expansion of the state’s Medicaid program, which is now an optional part of the federal health care reform law, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has hinted broadly that the state may not be prepared to spend the additional money such an expansion would necessitate.
“I don’t think there’s any way we can absorb this,” the governor told the Pennsylvania Press Club, speaking of the Medicaid expansion that is a major part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Read more about what those costs would be, and the challenges the state would face in expanding its Medicaid program, in this PA Independent article.

PA Safety Net Admin2012-11-23T06:00:34+00:00November 23rd, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Shift to HealthChoices Hits Bumps in the Road

Pennsylvania’s switch to HealthChoices to serve nearly the entire state Medicaid population is running into short-term obstacles in parts of the state.
Some recipients, for example, failed to choose a participating managed care plan, were assigned to plans, and now are confused about where to go and how to obtain care. In other instances, physicians are still negotiating with those plans or waiting to be credentialed for participation.
Some Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, because of where they are located and their especially large numbers of Medicaid patients, may experience these problems more than the average hospital.
Read more about the challenges Medicaid recipients are encountering during this transition in this Erie-Times News article .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-11-08T06:00:02+00:00November 8th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Pennsylvanians Who Lost Medicaid Eligibility Given Path to Restoration

More than 100,000 Pennsylvanians who were dropped from the state’s Medical Assistance rolls in the latter part of 2011 will receive a new opportunity to regain eligibility.
Under an agreement between the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and lawyers for advocacy groups, 100,000 people who lost their eligibility will receive a letter describing their right of appeal. Those who appeal successfully will be restored to the state’s Medicaid rolls and could have their medical bills resolved for the period during which they were off those rolls.
Read more about why these 100,000 people lost their eligibility and how advocates won this opportunity for restoration in this Philadelphia Inquirer article .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-10-24T09:33:38+00:00October 24th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

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