Pennsylvania Medical Assistance Archives - Page 6 of 7 - 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

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

PA Relents on New Co-Pays for Selected Medicaid Recipients

The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) has announced that it will not require selected Medical Assistance recipients with incomes 200 percent above the federal poverty level to pay co-payments for Medicaid services.
The new co-pay policy, implemented October 1, affected about 48,000 families and especially targeted children with autism and other disabilities.
Instead of seeking co-payments, DPW intends to seek federal permission to charge insurance premiums to the same patients.
Read more about the controversy and the decision that temporarily ends it in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-10-10T06:00:13+00:00October 10th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

EHR Use Growing in State Medicaid Program

Roughly one in four Pennsylvania Medical Assistance recipients visited providers last year that used electronic health record (EHR) technology to help manage their health care information.
According to the Department of Public Welfare (DPW), the state has now distributed $130 million in federal EHR incentive payments to 90 hospitals and more than 3000 health care professionals.
Read more about the growing use of EHR technology and the availability of federal funds to support the use of that technology in this Central Penn Business Journal article .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-07-30T06:00:59+00:00July 30th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

PA Cuts Medicaid Dental Benefits

Pennsylvania has reduced its Medicaid dental benefits to basic services – mostly, cleanings, fillings, and extractions.
It has eliminated root canal and periodontal procedures and limits dentures. The changes are expected to save $42 million this year.
Most states do not pay for any dental care.
Read more about the changes in Pennsylvania’s Medicaid dental benefits and their impact on beneficiaries here.

PA Safety Net Admin2012-07-17T06:00:55+00:00July 17th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Feds Probe Steep Drop in PA Medicaid Enrollment

Federal officials have asked the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare why the state dropped 130,000 people from its Medicaid rolls between August of 2011 and January 2012 and what the state is doing about the administrative challenges state officials say is one of the reasons for the precipitous drop.
In response to previous federal inquiries about the large numbers of recipients whose Pennsylvania Medical Assistance eligibility was revoked, state officials pointed to a backlog of cases to review. State and federal officials met to review the situation in April, and the latest federal correspondence with the state seeks answers to questions federal officials posed at the April meeting.
Read more about the problem, the interaction between state and federal officials, and the current status of this situation in this Philadelphia Inquirer article .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-07-12T09:10:59+00:00July 12th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

News from the Pennsylvania Health Law Project

The Pennsylvania Health Law Project has issued its May 2012 newsletter. Included in it are articles on the expanded use of HealthChoices in the Medical Assistance program; information about proposed changes in the Medical Assistance Transportation Program; an update on limits on Medicaid recipients’ use of prescription drugs; the removal of children from the state’s Medicaid rolls; and the 2013 increase in Medicaid payments for primary care providers.
Download the May edition of Health Law PA News, the newsletter of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project, here .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-06-07T06:00:24+00:00June 7th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy|Comments Off

Maternity Payment Cut Takes Effect

The Medical Assistance cut in fee-for-service inpatient payments for the care of normal newborns took effect on June 1.
According to the Department of Public Welfare (DPW), the payment reduction brings Pennsylvania into line with what other states’ Medicaid programs pay for such care. According to hospital industry representatives, Pennsylvania hospitals still lose money on Medicaid deliveries and now will lose more.
This policy will be especially damaging to Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals. Although only one-third of the state’s acute-care hospitals, safety-net hospitals perform two-thirds of all Medicaid deliveries according to the March 2012 report “Pennsylvania’s Safety-Net Hospitals: Vital Providers, Vital Employers” prepared by the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania.
Read more about the state’s new policies, how it will affect hospitals, and how hospitals are responding to it in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article .

PA Safety Net Admin2012-06-06T06:00:00+00:00June 6th, 2012|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

HealthChoices Expands, ACCESS Plus Contracts

Effective July 1, the Pennsylvania Medical Assistance program’s HealthChoices mandatory managed care program will expand to seven new counties: Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, and Somerset. At the same time, the state’s ACCESS Plus Medicaid managed care program will cease operations in those same counties.
Further information can be found in a May 25 Department of Public Welfare (DPW) Medical Assistance Bulletin, which can be found here.

PA Safety Net Admin2012-05-31T06:00:15+00:00May 31st, 2012|Meetings and notices|Comments Off

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