MedPAC Mulls Payment Per Beneficiary for Primary Care
At a recent meeting of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), commission members discussed the inadequacy of Medicare payments to providers for primary care and considered a proposal to recommend to Congress that primary care physicians receive a “per beneficiary” [...]
Medicaid “Pay Bump” Worked, New Study Suggests
A federally mandated increase in Medicaid payments for primary care services appears to have achieved its goal of improving access to care for Medicaid recipients. The increase, part of the Affordable Care Act, called for raising payments for Medicaid primary [...]
Medicare Giveth and Medicare Taketh Away
With a growing number of Medicare programs basing portions of future reimbursement on meeting specific performance metrics, hospitals are finding that they need a scorecard to keep track of their successes and failures. Medicare’s value-based purchasing program, for example, is [...]
Millions Live in ACA Coverage Gap
Nearly four million people who were supposed to be helped to health insurance through the Affordable Care Act remain uninsured today because they earn too much to qualify for Medicaid and not enough to qualify for the reform law’s health [...]
NAUH Calls for More Medical Residency Slots
In December, the House Energy and Commerce Committee invited stakeholders to submit comments on Medicare’s graduate medical education (GME) program. The National Association of Urban Hospitals has responded with a letter that addresses several of the issues the committee highlighted, [...]
Will High Court Help Pave the Way to Higher Medicaid Payments?
In a case that could have nation-wide implications for health care providers, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal of a lower court decision that ordered the state of Idaho to raise Medicaid payments to providers serving the developmentally [...]
NAUH Comments on Medicare Bill
Late last year, Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Health Subcommittee, released his “Hospital Improvement for Payment Act of 2014.” At the time, Rep. Brady invited comment on his Medicare proposal, which was widely [...]
Why All the Fuss About the IPAB?
Ever since it was established in the Affordable Care Act, the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) has been a magnet for criticism on both sides of the political aisle in Washington. Created to do what Congress is always reluctant to [...]
IRS Finalizes Standards for Non-Profit Hospitals
The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance for non-profit hospitals on selected issues that could jeopardize their non-profit status. As described in a commentary by the U.S. Treasury Department, non-profit hospitals must: Limit charges. Hospitals may not charge individuals eligible [...]
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 [...]
