The Trump administration is considering changing how the federal government measures inflation for the purpose of calculating the federal poverty level. Such a change, if implemented, could potentially reduce inflation-related increases in the federal poverty level, which in turn could limit the ability of some individuals and families to qualify, or continue to qualify, for […]
A 2018 law calls for the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission to report to Congress on institutions for mental diseases, or IMDs, receiving Medicaid payments. The law specifies that MACPAC solicit input from a variety of sources, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, state Medicaid and mental health agencies and authorities, […]
In the face of complaints from hospitals about backlogs, time-consuming procedures, and lengthy appeals processes involving Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor audits, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently outlined changes it has implemented in the RAC audit process to address these and other concerns. They are (in CMS’s own words): Better Oversight of RACs […]
A new Medicaid provider reassignment regulation eliminates the ability of states to divert any portion of Medicaid payments to third parties. Such diversion was authorized, in a limited manner, in 2014, when CMS created an exception to the existing prohibition on the diversion of provider payments to third parties. That exception involved diversion of payments […]
The majority members of the Senate Finance Committee have published a report on supplemental Medicaid payments. According to the new document, This report seeks to increase educational understanding of Medicaid supplemental payments, as well as outline the reporting mechanisms for these payments to ensure adequate stewardship of taxpayer dollars. The report consists of descriptions of […]
Uninsured hospital admissions and emergency department visits are down since passage of the Affordable Care Act. And Medicaid-covered admissions and ER visits are up, according to a new analysis. The report, published on the JAMA Network Open, found that ER visits by uninsured patients fell from 16 percent to eight percent between 2006 and 2016, […]
State eligibility redetermination processes may be pushing down Medicaid enrollment nation-wide. Last year, national Medicaid enrollment fell 1.5 million, more than half of them children, and according to a new report from Families USA, much of that decline may be attributable to the challenging eligibility redetermination requirements imposed on Medicaid-eligible individuals by some states. Those […]
Safety-net hospitals are among the leading beneficiaries of changes implemented this year in Medicare’s hospital readmissions reduction program. According to a new study, safety-net, academic, and rural hospitals have enjoyed improved performance under the program since Medicare began organizing hospitals into peer groups based on the proportion of low-income patients they serve rather than simply […]
Medicare would change its wage index system, raise inpatient fees, increase funding for Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicare DSH), enhance payments for new technologies, and make minor modifications in its hospital readmissions reduction, value-based purchasing, and hospital-acquired condition program if a proposed regulation published this week is ultimately adopted. The Centers for Medicare & […]
Hospitals’ calculation of their Medicaid shortfall would change under a recommendation that MACPAC voted to make to Congress. That change, in turn, could affect hospitals’ future Medicaid disproportionate share payments. Last week the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission voted overwhelmingly to change how hospitals calculate their Medicaid shortfall: the difference between what they […]