SNAP Archives - Page 7 of 12 - Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania

SNAP Calls for HealthChoices Improvements

The Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania has urged Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services to pursue transformative innovation in the state’s HealthChoices Medicaid managed care program.
In particular, SNAP has called on DHS to create regional health collaboratives consisting of both insurers and providers to work together to deliver better, more coordinated care to Pennsylvania’s Medicaid population.
SNAP also recommended that the state finance innovation by implementing a Delivery System Reform Incentive Payments program, better known as DSRIP, to fund innovation in the state’s Medicaid program.
SNAP’s suggestions came in response to a request for information issued by the state seeking recommendations for how to improve the HealthChoices program in anticipation of the state’s plan to rebid HealthChoices managed care contracts later this year.
See the state’s request for information here and find SNAP’s comment letter here.

PA Safety Net Admin2015-06-29T06:00:03+00:00June 29th, 2015|HealthChoices PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

SNAP Holds Legislative Breakfast

On Tuesday, June 2, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania held a legislative breakfast in Harrisburg to talk to members of the state legislature and their staffs about issues of importance to Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals and to present SNAP’s position on various aspects of Governor Wolf’s proposed FY 2016 budget.
In particular, SNAP addressed a number of proposed cuts in state Medicaid spending that would have an especially serious effect on Pennsylvania’s 41 private safety-net hospitals.
Among those who attended were numerous members of the state House and Senate from across the commonwealth: Democrats and Republicans, members of leadership and key budget and health care committees, and individuals with a keen interest in the work being done by Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals.
During the meeting SNAP also unveiled a brief document outlining its position on the proposed FY 2016 budget and the Medicaid cuts it includes. Find that document here.

PA Safety Net Admin2015-06-04T06:00:32+00:00June 4th, 2015|Proposed FY 2016 Pennsylvania state budget|Comments Off

PA Governor Proposes New Budget With Medicaid Implications

Yesterday Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf presented his proposed FY 2016 budget to the state’s General Assembly.
Included in that budget are proposed spending levels for Medicaid, including supplemental payments and other programs that affect the state’s private safety-net hospitals.
The Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania has prepared a detailed memo outlining the budget’s broader themes and then details its potential implications for safety-net hospitals. Hospital officials interested in requesting a copy of the memo can do so by hitting the “contact us” link on the upper right-hand corner of this screen.

PA Safety Net Admin2015-03-04T16:56:41+00:00March 4th, 2015|Proposed FY 2016 Pennsylvania state budget|Comments Off

SNAP Looks to the Future

With the inauguration of a new governor and the start of a new legislative session, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) has prepared a series of four papers for leaders of the new Wolf administration and legislative and committee leaders and staff.
The fourth of those papers, released this week, addresses the importance of innovation in addressing the challenges safety-net hospitals face in leading the way to serving Pennsylvania’s growing Medicaid population.
The paper describes the new demands being made of hospitals by insurers, government, and others; tools through which to pursue innovation; the goals of future innovation; and the role that SNAP and safety-net hospitals must play in that innovation.
The first paper, “What is SNAP?”, was an introduction to the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania: what safety-net hospitals are, where they are located, whom they serve, and how they differ from other acute-care hospitals in the state.
The second paper, “The Challenges Pennsylvania Safety-Net Hospitals Face,” describes the special role safety-net hospitals play in serving low-income and medically vulnerable Pennsylvanians and the emerging challenges they face in fulfilling this vital role.
The third paper, “Transitioning Medicaid: Principles for Changing Course on Medicaid Expansion,” presents eight principles SNAP believes state officials should follow if they choose to abandon the Healthy Pennsylvania model of Medicaid expansion in favor of a more traditional approach to expanding the state’s Medicaid expansion.
Find all four SNAP papers here.

PA Safety Net Admin2015-02-12T10:43:14+00:00February 12th, 2015|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

SNAP Principles for Changing Course on Medicaid Expansion in Pennsylvania

With the inauguration of a new governor and the start of a new legislative session, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) has prepared a series of four papers for leaders of the new Wolf administration and legislative and committee leaders and staff.
The third of those four papers presents eight principles SNAP believes state officials should follow if they choose to abandon the Healthy Pennsylvania model of Medicaid expansion in favor of a more traditional approach to expanding the state’s Medicaid expansion.
Those eight principles are:

communicate changes effectively to the provider community
ensure beneficiaries’ continuity of coverage and continuity of care
ensure the adequacy of provider networks
simplify beneficiary and provider enrollment
preserve vital supplemental payments to safety-net hospitals
continue pursuing Medical Assistance payment reforms
ensure the long-term financing of Medical Assistance in response to current and future threats to that financing
invest in innovative, population-based infrastructure and programmatic improvements

The first paper, “What is SNAP?”, was an introduction to the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania: what safety-net hospitals are, where they are located, whom they serve, and how they differ from other acute-care hospitals in the state.
The second paper, “The Challenges Pennsylvania Safety-Net Hospitals Face,” describes the special role safety-net hospitals play in serving low-income and medically vulnerable Pennsylvanians and the emerging challenges they face in fulfilling this vital role.
Find all three SNAP papers here.

PA Safety Net Admin2015-01-28T06:00:12+00:00January 28th, 2015|Healthy PA, Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania safety-net hospitals|Comments Off

The Challenges Facing Pennsylvania’s Safety-Net Hospitals

With the arrival of a new governor and the start of a new legislative session, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) has prepared a series of four papers for leaders of the new Wolf administration and legislative and committee leaders and staff.
The second of those four papers describes the major health care and health policy challenges safety-net hospitals face. Those challenges include:

the distinct patients safety-net hospitals serve
inadequate payments for Medicaid services
the large numbers of uninsured and underinsured patients safety-net hospitals serve
threats to vital state Medicaid supplemental payments, such as Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Medicaid DSH
continuing change and reform in the health care system, including the delivery of care and how safety-net hospitals are paid for their services

The first paper, “What is SNAP?”, was an introduction to the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania: what safety-net hospitals are, where they are located, whom they serve, and how they differ from other acute-care hospitals in the state.
Find both SNAP papers here.

PA Safety Net Admin2015-01-23T06:00:07+00:00January 23rd, 2015|Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

What is SNAP?

With the arrival of a new governor and the start of a new legislative session, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) has prepared a series of four papers for leaders of the new Wolf administration and legislative and committee leaders and staff.
The first paper, “What is SNAP?”, is an introduction to the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania: what safety-net hospitals are, where they are located, whom they serve, and how they differ from other acute-care hospitals in the state.
See “What is SNAP?” here, on the association’s web site.

PA Safety Net Admin2015-01-15T06:00:06+00:00January 15th, 2015|Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

Low-Income Patients Struggle With Diabetes Management

Low-income diabetics are more likely than others to struggle to manage their condition – even if they have health insurance.
According to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, “Increasing access to care may be insufficient to improve the health of patients with diabetes mellitus and unmet basic needs.” The study defines those unmet needs as food insecurity, cost-related medication underuse, housing instability, and energy insecurity.
The study, “Material Needs Insecurities, Control of Diabetes Mellitus, and Use of Health Care Resources,” found that difficulty affording food led to more outpatient physician visits; trouble paying for medicine and underuse of medicine for that reason led to more emergency room visits and hospitalizations; and all of the material insecurities contributed to increased health care costs.
The study was based on observation of 400 patients served by community health centers in Massachusetts. It found that 19 percent of those patients had trouble affording food, 28 percent had difficulty paying for medicine, 11 percent struggled to pay for someplace to live, and 14 percent had a hard time paying their utility bills. Overall, nearly half had trouble managing their diabetes.
The study’s supports SNAP’s contention that low-income patients – patients served in disproportionate numbers by Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals – are fundamentally more challenging to treat than others and often lack the community and social supports needed to address their medical needs effectively.
Learn more about the study and its implications in this U.S. News & World Report article or find the study itself here, on the web site of JAMA Internal Medicine.

PA Safety Net Admin2015-01-08T06:00:45+00:00January 8th, 2015|Uncategorized|Comments Off

SNAP Warns of Challenges Ahead

As Pennsylvania lawmakers contemplate the state’s FY 2015 budget, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania has issued a new position paper reminding those officials of the challenges the state’s private safety-net hospitals face in the current environment and the need for adequate, stable funding as they tackle those challenges.
Among those challenges are low-income patients with distinct needs, major cuts in federal Medicare payments that especially target safety-net hospitals, and powerful economic forces marshaled by government, insurers, and others that seek to compel hospitals to deliver care in different ways, be paid differently for their efforts, align their incentives differently with other providers, and invest heavily in information technology.
Pennsylvania’s safety-net hospitals are prepared to do all these things, but to achieve such progress, they need financial stability and predictability: they need to know that their Medical Assistance funding will not be at risk as the state experiences various budget challenges.
Read SNAP’s perspective on these issues in its new position paper, “Pennsylvania’s Safety-Net Hospitals: The Need for Stable and Predictable Funding Amid Increasing Challenges,” which can be found here, on SNAP’s web site.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-06-30T06:00:31+00:00June 30th, 2014|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues, Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania|Comments Off

Protect Uncompensated Care Payments, SNAP Tells State Officials

Although only 25 percent of the state’s acute-care hospitals, Pennsylvania’s private safety-net hospitals account for 45 percent of the $1 billion in uncompensated care those hospitals provide to uninsured Pennsylvanians every year.
And now, as the governor and legislature consider the state’s FY 2015 budget, the Safety-Net Association of Pennsylvania is urging those officials to preserve state payments that help qualified hospitals with those uncompensated care costs and enable them to continue constituting the core of Pennsylvania’s health care safety net.
Tobacco Uncompensated Care Fund payments are supplemental state payments to hospitals that provide significant amounts of uncompensated care; they are underwritten by proceeds from the national master tobacco settlement of 1998 and matched by the federal government. As lawmakers work on the state’s FY 2015 budget, SNAP is urging them to expend available FY 2014 funding already authorized for this purpose and not to use FY 2015 tobacco settlement funding for any purpose other than what was prescribed in Act 71 of 2013.
These views and background information on the role private safety-net hospitals play in caring for low-income, Medicaid-covered, and uninsured Pennsylvanians are addressed in a new SNAP position paper, “The Importance of Preserving Uncompensated Care Payments.” Find that position paper here.

PA Safety Net Admin2014-06-27T06:00:37+00:00June 27th, 2014|Pennsylvania Medicaid policy, Pennsylvania state budget issues|Comments Off

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