NAUH Urges MedPAC to Reconsider Medicare DSH Proposal
At their December meeting, members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission discussed the possibility of recommending to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that Medicare calculate a portion of eligible hospitals’ Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicare DSH) using [...]
Medicare Expands ACO Participation
121 new organizations will be participating in Medicare accountable care organization programs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced this week. 100 new ACOs will join the 150 already participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, which rewards organizations [...]
Helping the Homeless May Reduce Health Care Costs
A new study has found that providing housing to homeless people may reduce health care costs. The study, undertaken in Oregon between 2010 and 2014, found that providing housing to homeless people reduced their health care costs, mostly by reducing [...]
CMS Demonstration to Tie Medical, Service Needs
A new federal demonstration program will attempt to help low-income Medicare and Medicaid recipients gain access to services that ultimately will improve their health. The Accountable Health Communities project, developed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and launched [...]
Dual Eligible Programs Show Mixed Results
The Affordable Care Act-inspired effort to find more effective ways to serve the so-called dual eligible population – mostly the disabled and low-income elderly covered by both Medicare and Medicaid – is not providing the kind of results policy-makers expected [...]
Finance Committee Advances Chronic Care Proposals
The Senate Finance Committee’s chronic care working group has issued a policy options document presenting more than 20 proposals for improving how Medicare serves beneficiaries with chronic medical conditions. The document is the product of a bipartisan work group. The [...]
GAO Calls for Look at Medicare Outpatient Payments
Citing the growing consolidation of hospitals and physician practices and the higher rates Medicare pays for care delivered in hospital outpatient departments, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has recommended that Congress …consider directing the Secretary of the Department of [...]
MedPAC Recommends Socio-Economic Risk Adjustment of Medicare Advantage Star Ratings
The agency that advises Congress on Medicare payment issues has suggested to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that it revise its star ratings systems for Medicare Advantage plans. In a letter to CMS in response to its [...]
MedPAC Meets, Discusses Payment Issues
Last week the commissioners serving on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) met in Washington, D.C. to discuss the group’s future recommendations to Congress. While MedPAC’s recommendations are not binding on Congress or the administration, they are highly respected and [...]
MedPAC Addresses Major Issues for Private Safety-Net Hospitals
The independent federal agency that advises Congress on Medicare payment issues discussed several issues of great importance to private safety-net hospitals at its December 10 meeting in Washington, D.C. During the course of a discussion about FY 2017 Medicare inpatient [...]
