Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals Archives - Page 5 of 21 - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

SNAP Asks Congress to Help Hospitals Keep Provider Relief Fund Grants

Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals could lose some or all of their CARES Act Provider Relief Fund grant money and the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania is asking members of the state’s congressional delegation to intervene on their behalf to prevent it.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logo At issue are financial reporting requirements that at first directed hospitals to estimate their anticipated revenue losses and extra expenses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in one way and then shifted to a new approach. The first grant distribution was based on the original reporting requirements, and now, hospitals fear that the change in reporting requirements could leave them vulnerable to a demand that they return some, much, or all of that grant money.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced one set of reporting requirement in June and then proposed modifying them in September. In response to widespread expressions of concern, including from SNAP, HHS revised those proposed changes – but not enough, according to many stakeholders, leaving them concerned that HHS would ask them to return some of their grant money. Now, SNAP is asking the same members of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation who asked HHS to reconsider the reporting requirements to do so again.

See SNAP’s letter to the delegation asking its members to sign onto a bipartisan letter asking HHS to revise its reporting requirements once again. Go here to see the letter members of Congress are being asked to sign.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-12-14T10:20:08+00:00December 14th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off

SNAP Asks PA Delegation for COVID-19 Aid

SNAP has written to Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to request additional COVID-19 legislation between now and the end of the year to help Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals respond to the health care and financial challenges posed by the pandemic.

In its letter, SNAP asked Congress for:

additional funding for the Provider Relief Fund for assistance to hospitals;
extension of the temporary moratorium on continued implementation of the 2011 Budget Control Act’s Medicare sequestration; and
the suspension of any other federal cuts for health care providers, such as the scheduled reduction of Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) allocations to the states.

Read SNAP’s message to Congress.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-12-08T06:00:24+00:00December 8th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19, DSH hospitals, Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

SNAP Asks PA Congressional Delegation to Help Preserve Federal COVID-19 Aid for Hospitals

Protect the COVID-19 aid the federal government has given to Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals and others, SNAP has asked in a letter to members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logo The letter refers to changes in how the federal Department of Health and Human Services wants hospitals to calculate the revenue they lost as a result of COVID-19 – the justification in part for the Provider Relief Fund payments hospitals have received through the CARES Act. In June, HHS told hospitals how to make that calculation but late last month it changed those directions in ways that could force many Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals to return some or even much of the federal aid they received.

In the letter, SNAP asks members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to join a bipartisan letter asking HHS Secretary Alex Azar to restore the June instructions for calculating COVID-19-related lost hospital revenue.

Go here to read SNAP’s message to Congress.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-10-14T11:43:19+00:00October 14th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

Congress Gives Hospitals Medicaid DSH Relief

Medicaid DSH allocations to states will not be reduced right away thanks to a new continuing resolution to fund the federal government through December 11.

The Medicare disproportionate share allocation cuts to the states, mandated by the Affordable Care Act but delayed by Congress several times, were delayed again earlier this year but scheduled to take effect on November 11. With the latest continuing resolution, the cuts will be delayed yet another month.

SNAP worked hard to encourage Congress to include the Medicaid DSH delay in the continuing resolution, doing so most recently in this September 14 letter to members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation. Medicaid DSH payments are an important tool in helping Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals serve their predominantly low-income communities, so SNAP also is urging Congress to eliminate the Medicaid DSH cut entirely.

Learn more about the delay of Medicaid DSH cuts and other aspects of the continuing resolution that affect hospitals in the Healthcare Dive article “Providers win Medicare loan extension, DSH relief but lose other asks in stop-gap spending law.”

PA Safety Net Admin2020-10-08T13:00:02+00:00October 8th, 2020|Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments|Comments Off

Wolf Presents Health Care Reform Proposal

Governor Wolf has unveiled a health care reform plan with the goal of making health care more affordable, supporting sustainable growth and transformations of health systems and corporations, and addressing health inequities across Pennsylvania. The plan includes three major components:

An Interagency Health Reform Council charged with developing recommendations on how to identify and capitalize on efficiencies in the existing health care system.
Regional Accountable Health Councils convened by Medicaid managed care organizations to assess community needs and develop regional transformation plans.
A Health Value Commission charged with setting spending targets for payers in the areas of primary care, behavioral health, and value-based purchasing. The commission also would perform public interest reviews of proposed large provider mergers, acquisitions, and changes in ownership.

Although it requires legislation to move forward, the third component of the governor’s plan appears to have the most potential to affect Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals

Learn more from the Wolf administration’s news release announcing the plan.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-10-07T06:00:03+00:00October 7th, 2020|Health care reform|Comments Off

Payer Mix to Change, Providers Anticipate

Health care providers expect to serve higher proportions of Medicaid and uninsured patients in the coming year, according to a new survey.

The shift will be driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, which as unemployment remains high is leading to fewer patients with commercial insurance and more with Medicaid or no insurance all, according to provider financial executives.

Such a shift would be especially challenging for Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals because they already serve higher proportions of Medicaid and uninsured patients than the typical community hospital.

Learn more about the reimbursement changes health care providers expect to see over the next twelve months in the Healthcare Dive article “Provider finance execs bracing for unfavorable shift in payer mix, survey finds.”

PA Safety Net Admin2020-10-05T06:00:21+00:00October 5th, 2020|Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

MFAR is Dead

At least for now.

The controversial Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation, slated for implementation this fall over the objections of many health care stakeholders, will not move forward at this time.

In a tweet earlier this week, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma wrote that

We’ve listened closely to concerns that have been raised by our state and provider partners about potential unintended consequences of the proposed rule, which require further study. Therefore, CMS is withdrawing the rule from the regulatory agenda.

If implemented, opponents maintained, the regulation would have:

Deprived states of important, established policy-making prerogatives.
Created major new administrative burdens for state governments and hospitals.
Inappropriately regulated financing of the state share of Medicaid spending.
Introduced new, unspecified standards for state Medicaid programs.

While CMS maintained that MFAR would have enhanced the transparency of state Medicaid programs, the rule’s opponents maintained that it could lead to a major reduction of resources for serving the Medicaid population.

SNAP was among those opponents, arguing that the regulation could have hurt Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals and others that serve low-income communities by inappropriately regulating how states can finance their Medicaid programs. CMS proposed the rule last November; SNAP submitted formal comments expressing its opposition in January; and SNAP rallied Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to oppose the rule in February, March, and July.

It is worth noting that in “withdrawing the rule from the regulatory agenda,” Verma did not preclude the possibility of reintroducing MFAR at some point in the future.

Learn more from article “Trump administration backing off Medicaid rule that states warned would lead to cuts” in the online publication The Hill.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-09-17T06:00:46+00:00September 17th, 2020|Federal Medicaid issues, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

Medicaid Enrollment on the Rise

More people are enrolling in Medicaid, and much of the increase is driven by the COVID-19 emergency.

Or so reports the organization Families USA in a new study.

Pennsylvania State Map According to the study,

Over half of the 38 states reporting monthly enrollment through May or later have seen greater than 7% growth in enrollment since February. For the eight states reporting August enrollment, their average enrollment growth since February is approximately 11%.

But the implications are even greater, according to the analysis, which found that in large part because of COVID-19 job loss,

Medicaid enrollment among the 38 states reporting has already increased by 4.3 million people and is poised to increase much more in the near future. Analysis by Health Management Associates projects that up to 27 million people will lose their job-based insurance this year and that Medicaid will see an increase in enrollment of up to 18 million people by the end of 2020, depending on the severity of the economic downturn.

The effects of COVID-19 job loss and accompanying loss of insurance already appears to be visible in Pennsylvania, where Medicaid enrollment rose from 2.84 million in March of 2020 to 2.89 million in April, 2.94 million in May, and 2.977 million in June. Growing Medicaid enrollment poses a challenge for Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals because they care for so many low-income patients and payments from the state’s Medicaid program often do not cover the cost of the care they provide.

Learn more about the nation-wide trend in the Families USA report “Rapid Increases in Medicaid Enrollment: A Review of Data from Six Months.”

PA Safety Net Admin2020-09-16T06:00:58+00:00September 16th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania Medicaid coronavirus, Pennsylvania Medicaid COVID-19, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

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.

The 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.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-09-15T06:00:16+00:00September 15th, 2020|Affordable Care Act, Medicaid supplemental payments, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

COVID-19 Update: June 4, 2020

Coronavirus update for Thursday, June 4 as of 2:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania Update

SNAP Advocacy

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logo Today SNAP wrote to Pennsylvania senators Robert Casey and Pat Toomey to ask them to pursue legislation with five major COVID-19-related policy initiatives that Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals need:

A 14-point increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP).
An additional $100 billion for hospitals.
Another delay in implementation of Affordable Care Act-mandated cuts in Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) allotments.
Prevention of implementation of the Medicare fiscal accountability regulation (MFAR).
Reduced interest rates and a longer payback period for Medicare payments advanced to hospitals through the CARES Act’s Accelerated and Advance Payment Program.

See SNAP’s letter here.

Governor Wolf

Governor Wolf announced that the Office of State Fire Commissioner will be working to enact recent legislation to provide $50 million in direct financial relief to fire and emergency medical service (EMS) companies hurt by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. $6 million of this money is targeted for EMS companies.

Governor Wolf and Secretary of Health Levine signed amended yellow phase orders to include 10 counties (including Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties) moving to the yellow phase at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow, June 5 and signed amended green phase orders to include 16 counties moving to the green phase at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow. With these orders, there are no counties in the red phase. In total, on June 5, there will be 34 counties in the green phase and 33 in the yellow phase. See the announcement here.

Department of Health – by the numbers

Yesterday’s new case and death totals are very similar to those of the previous day.
The number of health care workers who have contracted COVID-19 now exceeds 5600.
1174 Pennsylvanians are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 and 257 of them are on ventilators.
45 percent of acute-care beds, 38 percent of ICU beds, and 24 percent of pediatric ICU beds are currently unoccupied, as are 53 percent of hospital isolation rooms.

Department of Human Services/Office of Long-Term Living

The Office of Long-Term Living has issued guidance for modification to nursing facility bed increase requests during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With many of its employees working at home, OLTL has introduced a temporary change in the processing of 180-day claims exception requests.
OLTL has posted a notice explaining that due to COVID-19, it cannot access information necessary to calculate the healthcare-associated payments for MA-11 cost reports with acceptance letters normally mailed in March.

Department of Aging

The Department of Aging has published guidance for the reopening and operation of adult daily living centers during the COVID-19 crisis in counties that have transitioned to the green phase.
The department has created an older adult daily living center reopening checklist for facilities reopening in green phase areas.
The department also has created a staff and participant COVID-19 wellness check screening tool for older adult daily living centers that are reopening.
The department also clarified that OLTL is requiring LIFE Centers to follow adult daily living center guidance for reopening.

Federal Update

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

CMS has published a compendium of Medicare physician fee schedule changes implemented in recent months in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
CMS has posted a table that describes COVID-19 adjustments announced yesterday for CMMI model programs.
CMS announced that the Nursing Home Compare web site now provides data on COVID-19 cases and deaths in individual nursing homes. Accompanying this announcement is publication of an FAQ on this nursing home data and a memo to state Medicaid programs about the data.

Department of Health and Human Services

HHS has updated its CARES Act’s Provider Relief Fund FAQ with additions on pages 3, 20, and 21. Hospitals should review these changes carefully.
HHS announced new lab data reporting guidance that specifies what additional data must be reported to HHS by laboratories along with COVID-19 test results. This guidance standardizes reporting. See HHS’s announcement, the guidance itself, and an FAQ for the guidance.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The CDC has updated its web page on COVID-19 in racial and ethnic minorities.

Food and Drug Administration

The FDA has introduced a new web-based resource, Testing Supply Substitution Strategies, that includes detailed information to help support labs performing authorized COVID-19 tests.
The FDA has updated the question-and-answer appendix in its guidance Conduct of Clinical Trials of Medical Products during COVID-19 Public Health Emergency with new information about compliance for electronic systems used to generate electronic signatures on clinical trial records.
The FDA has issued an alert to providers about the temporary absence of the “paralyzing agent” warning statement on the vial caps of the neuromuscular blocking agents vecuronium bromide and rocuronium bromide, both of which are often used for patients requiring medical ventilation.
The FDA has issued emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for five new commercial diagnostic tests for COVID-19. Find them here, here, here, here, and here.