CMS Clarifies Medicaid DSH Rule
Last week the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a final rule addressing the treatment of third-party payers in calculating Medicaid uncompensated care costs. This calculation affects individual hospitals’ Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) limit. According to CMS, This [...]
Temporarily Gone But Not Forgotten
While last week’s withdrawal of the American Health Care Act at least temporarily halted talk of immediate repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, at least one aspect of that proposed legislation, often discussed in the past, is sure [...]
CMS Shares Evaluation of Medicare-Medicaid Financial Alignment Efforts
In 2011 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched a “Medicare-Medicaid Financial Alignment Initiative” that seeks “…to provide Medicare-Medicaid enrollees with a better care experience and to better align the financial incentives of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.” How [...]
MACPAC Looks at Medicaid DSH
Hospitals that serve especially large numbers of Medicaid and low-income patients still need Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicaid DSH) to avoid red ink despite the expansion of Medicaid and the increase in the number of uninsured people fostered by [...]
MedPAC Offers Provider Rate Recommendations for FY 2018
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has submitted its annual Medicare payment rate recommendations to Congress. The recommendations, required by law, include: rate increases as required by current law for hospital inpatient payments, hospital outpatient payments, physicians, other health professional services, [...]
MACPAC Meets, Discusses Medicaid Issues
Members of the non-partisan legislative branch agency that advises Congress, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the states on Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program matters met in Washington recently to discuss a number of issues. On the [...]
The More High-Need Patients, the Better the Care
Physician practices that serve higher proportions of high-need patients have lower health care costs, fewer hospital admissions, and fewer emergency room visits than physician practices that serve lower proportions of high-need patients. This was the conclusion of researchers who analyzed [...]
NAUH Expresses Views on Health Reform Proposal
NAUH does not support the American Health Care Act in its current form, the organization told members of the House of Representatives in a letter it sent yesterday. In its letter, NAUH noted that the recently proposed AHCA would result [...]
NAUH Weighs in on American Health Care Act
In a letter to members of Congress and selected congressional staff, NAUH shared its perspective on the American Health Care Act, the legislation Congress is considering as a means of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act. The letter highlights [...]
MACPAC Looks at High-Cost Hepatitis C Drugs
The emergence of exceptionally high-cost drugs that offer unprecedented benefits for Hepatitis C patients has posed a considerable challenge to state Medicaid programs: the drugs offer cures, not treatment, yet their costs are potentially budget-busting. The Medicaid and CHIP Payment [...]
