MedPAC Meets
Last week the members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) met in Washington, D.C. to talk about how Medicare pays for a variety of services needed by the nation’s 50 million Medicare beneficiaries. Among the issues addressed by MedPAC [...]
Serving Patients With Complex Needs
Patients with complex medical needs account for a significant proportion of overall health care spending, and many efforts in recent years, including some mandated by the Affordable Care Act, have sought to identify the best ways to serve such patients [...]
CMS Proposal Would Mandate Hospital Discharge Planning
Hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid would be required to develop discharge plans for all inpatients and many outpatients under a new regulation proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). According to a CMS news release, [...]
Hospitals Struggle With Charity Care Requirements
At times because of insufficient guidance and at times as a result of questionable performance, many non-profit hospitals are having a hard time meeting the Affordable Care Act’s requirements governing the provision of charity care as a condition of retaining [...]
Abandoned Patients
It does not happen often, but it does happen: patients, usually elderly, are admitted to a hospital, cannot make their own medical decisions, and no family members can be found to help with those decisions or post-hospitalization care. So the [...]
Patient-Centered Medical Homes Project Produces Mixed Results
A patient-centered medical homes program in Colorado reduced participants’ emergency room visits and hospital admissions. Yet it did not saving money. The program, involving 98,000 patients and 15 medical practices, reduced emergency room visits 9.3 percent from a baseline over [...]
One State’s Battle With DSH Cuts
Hospitals across the country are concerned about the degree to which the Affordable Care Act is reducing the Medicare disproportionate share hospital (Medicare DSH) payments that help underwrite the cost of the care they provide to uninsured patients. Those in [...]
Medicare Cuts May be Part of Budget Deal
The agreement between the White House and congressional negotiators on a two-year budget deal and an increase in the federal debt ceiling will be paid for in part with reductions in Medicare payments. Under the reported agreement, negotiators agreed to [...]
Responding to Budget Deal, NAUH Urges Congress Not to Cut Medicare Payments
In the wake of the agreement between the White House and congressional leaders on a two-year budget deal and an increase in the federal debt ceiling, the National Association of Urban Hospitals has written to Congress asking members not to [...]
Are Medicare ACOs Living Up to the Hype?
Not yet. At least that’s the conclusion to be drawn based on a report recently released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). According to a CMS fact sheet, …the 20 ACOs [accountable care organizations]in the Pioneer ACO [...]
