MACPAC Meets
The non-partisan legislative branch agency that advises Congress, the administration, and the states on Medicaid and CHIP-related issues met recently in Washington, D.C. The following is the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission’s own summary of its meeting. The [...]
Senators Seek 340B Reprieve
A bipartisan group of senators has written to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer expressing concern about cuts in Medicare Medicare prescription drug payments to qualified providers as a result of new regulations governing the [...]
House to Set Sights on Medicare, Medicaid Cuts in 2018
The House of Representatives will pursue entitlement spending cuts next year, House Speaker Paul Ryan recently explained on a radio program. That means Medicare, Medicaid, and possibly even Social Security. Ryan said that We're going to have to get back [...]
MedPAC Meets
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. last week. Among the issues on the agenda of the independent agency that advises Congress on Medicare payment issues were: payment adequacy for physicians and other health professional services An alternative [...]
NAUH Asks Congress to Block 340B and Medicaid DSH Cuts
Pass legislation blocking cuts in Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Medicaid DSH) and Medicare payments made to qualified providers for prescription drugs under the section 340B prescription drug discount program, NAUH has asked the leaders of the House and Senate. The [...]
ED Myths Exposed
The uninsured do not use emergency rooms more than the insured. And the expansion of health insurance coverage increases rather than decreases ER use. So concludes the new Health Affairs study “The Uninsured Do Not Use the Emergency Department More [...]
New Help With Addressing Low-Income Patients’ Social Services Needs?
One of the long-time barriers to states and hospitals addressing low-income patients’ social services needs and the social determinants of health has been a lack of resources for such assistance. Medicaid, in particular, has not been a financial participant in [...]
Could Value-Based Pay Jeopardize Care for Low-Income Patients?
Physicians who serve large numbers of low-income patients are more likely to incur penalties under Medicare value-based purchasing programs. So concludes a new study in Annals of Internal Medicine. According to the report, Performance differences between practices serving higher- and [...]
The Battle Over 340B
Hospitals and other health care providers say it is an essential tool in ensuring access to care, and to prescription drugs, for their low-income patients. Pharmaceutical companies say it has expanded beyond its original purpose and is being used by [...]
Is Readmissions Reduction Program Hurting Some Patients?
A new study suggests that the decline in avoidable hospital readmissions of Medicare patients driven by the federal program’s hospital readmissions reduction program may be harming cardiac patients. According to a new study published in the journal JAMA Cardiology, while [...]
