Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania Archives - Page 5 of 13

SNAP Asks HHS for More Coronavirus Grants

Private safety-net hospitals should be among high-volume Medicaid providers that receive priority consideration in the distribution of additional grants from the CARES Act, SNAP has written in a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logo With CMS already conceding that high-volume Medicaid providers may be shortchanged in the initial distribution of funds from the $100 billion designated for hospitals and health care providers in the CARES Act, SNAP asked Ms. Verma to “…acknowledge the special needs of these hospitals and the roles they play in their communities by ensuring that they will receive much-needed assistance in the second round of grants as well.”

See SNAP’s letter here.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-04-12T06:00:57+00:00April 12th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

SNAP Asks PA Delegation for More COVID-19 Funding

More federal funding is needed for hospitals that serve especially high proportions of Medicaid patients and patients insured by government programs, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania has written to members of the state’s congressional delegation.

This is especially important now, SNAP emphasized in its letter, because of new plans to use some of the $100 billion designated for hospitals and health care providers in the federal CARES Act to pay instead for care for uninsured patients who contract COVID-19. Those payments, which SNAP supports, do not address the needs for which the original $100 billion was designated: to help hospitals – including Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals – with the cost of the investments they made to prepare for the expected influx of COVID-19 patients and to help them with cash flow challenges arising from the loss of revenue associated with suspending elective procedures.

See SNAP’s letter to Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation here.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-04-10T13:00:10+00:00April 10th, 2020|Coronavirus, COVID-19|Comments Off

SNAP to PA Delegation: Help Us Fight Coronavirus

Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals need help fighting COVID-19, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania declared in a letter to members of the state’s congressional delegation.

In addition to the resources sought by hospitals everywhere – equipment, supplies, funding for expanded capacity to accommodate patients suffering from COVID-19 – SNAP emphasized three specific types of assistance in its letter to the delegation:

Help with cash flow. As requested by the federal government and others, SNAP hospitals have limited or suspended elective surgery so they can focus their resources on COVID-19 patients. This will create a cash-flow problem for them: while they will be doing everything they can to care for their patients and will be expending considerable resources doing so, their revenue will decline. These hospitals need up-front funding to replace the revenue they will lose and to help compensate them for the considerable costs they are incurring to prepare for the surge of patients they have been told to expect so they can keep the lights on, patient rooms and supply closets adequately stocked, and staff paid.
The elimination of Affordable Care Act-mandated reductions of Medicaid DSH allotments to the states. Congress has already delayed these reductions on numerous occasions and late last year there was every indication that Congress would do so again. At a time when hospitals are facing the gravest threat to the public health that they have seen in many years they should not be forced to waste valuable time planning the reductions in staffing and spending they would need to make if the cuts are implemented as scheduled on May 23.
No new programs or requirements in future COVID-19-related legislation that would increase hospitals’ regulatory burden. In recent weeks Congress and the administration have appropriately reduced certain regulatory requirements on a temporary basis and it would be counterproductive to offset this much-needed regulatory relief by introducing new regulations and requirements.

See SNAP’s letter to the Pennsylvania congressional delegation here.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-03-23T13:00:25+00:00March 23rd, 2020|Coronavirus, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

MFAR Backlash Continues

Diverse health care and government interests are rallying around their opposition to the proposed Medicaid fiscal accountability rule.

Bookshelf with law books The regulation, proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in November would impose new limits on the ability of states to finance their share of their Medicaid spending, potentially jeopardizing provider payments and the ability of high-volume Medicaid providers to operate without suffering great losses.

In all, CMS received more than 4200 written comments in response to the proposed regulation, most of them expressing opposition. Among those doing so were state governments, the National Governors Association, hospitals and hospital associations, nursing home operators, and health advocacy organizations. Also among them was the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania. In summarizing its opposition, SNAP wrote in a formal comment letter to CMS on behalf of Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals that

SNAP is concerned that this proposed regulation would inappropriately restrict the state’s ability to finance the non-federal share of the Medicaid program, would impose significant additional regulatory burdens – the cost of which would far outstrip their benefit – would inappropriately introduce subjectivity into the application of previously clear and objective regulatory standards, and is beyond the scope of the statutory authority granted to CMS.

See SNAP’s entire letter here.

Learn more about the Medicaid fiscal accountability rule, what it seeks to do, and why so many oppose in the Stateline article “Medical Groups Slam Trump Medicaid Rule.”

PA Safety Net Admin2020-03-04T06:00:15+00:00March 4th, 2020|Federal Medicaid issues, Medicaid supplemental payments|Comments Off

SNAP Rallies PA Delegation to Oppose MFAR

A proposed federal Medicaid regulation could limit Pennsylvania’s ability to finance its Medicaid program and jeopardize supplemental payments to the state’s private safety-net hospitals, so SNAP has asked members of the state’s congressional delegation to sign a letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma asking her to reconsider the potentially damaging Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logo In its letter to members of the state’s congressional delegation, SNAP wrote on behalf of private Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals that

The proposed Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation (MFAR) would, if implemented, impose new limits on how states may raise their share of funds to support their Medicaid programs. If adopted, the commonwealth would face a serious challenge raising the money it needs to finance its share of the cost of its Medicaid program. In addition, MFAR would take a great deal of states’ Medicaid policy-making authority away from state governments and give it instead to the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

Two members of the state’s congressional delegation, Representatives Brendan Boyle (D-Montgomery/Philadelphia) and Mike Kelly (R-Butler/Crawford/Erie/Lawrence/Mercer), have written a bipartisan letter to be sent to CMS Administrator Seema Verma asking her to reconsider the troubling aspects of MFAR. SNAP wrote to members of the state’s congressional delegation asking them to sign onto the letter.

Go here to see the full SNAP letter to the delegation.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-03-03T06:00:10+00:00March 3rd, 2020|Federal Medicaid issues, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Fitch: Medicaid Block Grants, MFAR Threaten States, Providers

Medicaid block grants and the proposed Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation (MFAR) pose new financial threats to providers and states, according to Fitch Ratings, the financial rating company.

MFAR poses the greater threat, Fitch believes, noting in a new analysis that it could

…reduce total Medicaid spending nationally by $37 billion and $44 billion annually…and by $23 billion to $30 billion for hospitals alone. States, and to some extent providers, would respond to MFAR’s implementation with measures to mitigate the negative fiscal implications.

Bookshelf with law books Block grants, through what has been named the Healthy Adult Opportunity program, also pose a threat, with Fitch explaining that

Capping federal Medicaid contributions, even for a subset of beneficiaries, poses risks to state budgets and those entities reliant on state funding, including local governments and providers. States would need to find revenue or cost savings, either in Medicaid or elsewhere, to offset reduced federal contributions.

Because Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals care for more Medicaid patients than the typical hospital, both proposed policy changes have a potentially greater impact on them.

Last month SNAP conveyed its opposition to the proposed MFAR regulation in a formal comment letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in response to the regulation’s publication late last year. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has already rejected the idea of using block grants in the state’s Medicaid program.

Learn more about the potential impact of the proposed Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation and Medicaid block grants in the Fitch Ratings analysis “Fitch Rtgs: Medicaid Changes Will Affect States, NFP Healthcare Providers.”

PA Safety Net Admin2020-02-20T06:00:08+00:00February 20th, 2020|Federal Medicaid issues, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

Wolf Administration Proposes New Human Services Initiatives for FY 2021

New human services efforts to support vulnerable populations are a major part of Governor Tom Wolf’s proposed $36.06 billion FY 2021 budget for Pennsylvania.

The proposed budget, presented to the state legislature earlier this week, includes the following new initiatives:

creating pathways to success in the workforce for low-income Pennsylvanians
increasing the minimum wage to $15
increasing Department of Human Services staffing to support licensing and oversight
supporting adults in long-term-care facilities
legal services for vulnerable populations
direct care worker comprehensive training
commitment to performance-based metrics, accountability, and transparency in services and licensing
supporting vulnerable populations through home- and community-based services and reducing waiting lists
prevention services to support at-risk families
improving food security while supporting agriculture

Go here to see DHS’s presentation of these initiatives.

In addition, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania has prepared a detailed memo describing the proposed FY 2021 budget’s implications for Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals and the state’s Medicaid program. For a copy of this memo, use the “contact us” link in the upper right-hand corner of this page.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-02-07T06:00:38+00:00February 7th, 2020|Pennsylvania Medicaid, Pennsylvania Medicaid laws and regulations, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania Medical Assistance, Pennsylvania proposed FY 2021 budget, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Pennsylvania state budget issues, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

SNAP Asks Feds to Withdraw Medicaid Financing Regulation

CMS should withdraw its proposed Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation, SNAP has suggested in a formal comment letter to the federal agency in response to a new regulation it proposed in November.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logo According to the comment letter SNAP submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,

SNAP is concerned that this proposed regulation would inappropriately restrict the state’s ability to finance the non-federal share of the Medicaid program, would impose significant additional regulatory burdens – the cost of which would far outstrip their benefit – would inappropriately introduce subjectivity into the application of previously clear and objective regulatory standards, and is beyond the scope of the statutory authority granted to CMS.

Learn more about SNAP’s views on the proposed Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation and why SNAP believes CMS should withdraw it in SNAP’s formal comment letter.

PA Safety Net Admin2020-02-03T06:00:47+00:00February 3rd, 2020|Federal Medicaid issues, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

PA Safety-Net Hospitals Step Up When One of Their Own Closes

A core group of safety-net hospitals, led by SNAP members, has filled the gap left by the closure of Hahnemann University Hospital, another safety-net hospital, in Philadelphia.

Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania logo The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that since Hahnemann’s closing was announced during the summer, ER volume has risen 15 percent, admissions have risen 12 percent, and births have risen more than 50 percent at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, a SNAP member. Meanwhile, SNAP member Pennsylvania Hospital has seen its ER visits rise nine percent, SNAP member Penn Presbyterian Medical Center has seen its ER volume increase five percent, and SNAP member the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania has seen its ER volume rise five percent.

Patient volume also has risen significantly at Temple University Hospital.

Learn more about how Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, including SNAP members, have filled the void left by the closing of another safety-net hospital in the Philadelphia Business Journal article “Hahnemann fallout: Nearby hospitals see uptick in ER visits, admissions.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-10-25T06:00:53+00:00October 25th, 2019|Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

PA to Invest in Philadelphia Community Served by Safety-Net Hospitals

Pennsylvania will spend more than $4 million on health-related services in the North Philadelphia Enterprise Zone, an area in which nearly 13 percent of the state’s Medicaid population resides.

Hospital building This area is served almost exclusively by Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals and recently suffered a major loss when one of those providers, Hahnemann University Hospital, closed its doors. According to a SNAP analysis, more than 50 percent of the patients previously served by Hahnemann will now turn for care to SNAP members Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (18.3 percent), Pennsylvania Hospital (11.3 percent), the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (nine percent), Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (4.7 percent), Jefferson Health Northeast (4.1 percent), and Mercy Hospital Philadelphia (3.2 percent).

The $4 million will be spent on expanded home visiting services for families with children, eviction prevention assistance for low-income families, and programs that help residents move from public assistance to jobs.

Learn more in the Philadelphia Business Journal article “State Invests in North Philadelphia’s Health Enterprise Zone.”

PA Safety Net Admin2019-10-22T06:00:28+00:00October 22nd, 2019|Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

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