States Using Reform Law to Experiment
A number of states are taking advantage of flexibility written into the Affordable Care Act to experiment with different ways to purchase, deliver, and pay for health care. Vermont, for example, is considering a single-payer program in which all state [...]
Waiting in Medicaid Limbo
More than 1.7 million people who have applied for Medicaid are still waiting for a decision on their eligibility. And some have been waiting for as long as eight months. More than half of those still waiting are in California [...]
Members of Congress Urge Delay in Medicare DSH Cuts
Fifty-eight members of the House of Representatives have written to House leadership asking them to delay the continued implementation of Affordable Care Act-mandated Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) cuts. The letter, to House Speaker John Boehner and minority leader Nancy [...]
CMS to Examine How States Set Medicaid Managed Care Rates
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is launching an initiative to explore how states set the rates they pay managed care organizations to serve Medicaid patients. The initiative consists of two parts: first, CMS is examining the adequacy [...]
NAUH Endorses Bill to Reform Controversial Medicare Program
The National Association of Urban Hospitals has written to Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) endorsing their new legislation, the Hospital Readmissions Program Accuracy and Accountability Act. The bill calls for adding risk adjustment to Medicare’s hospital readmissions [...]
Hospitals Reconsidering Charity Care Policies?
In the wake of Affordable Care Act policies that enhance access to health insurance, hospitals around the country are beginning to take a second look at their charity care policies. Some are charging co-pays to uninsured patients; others are moving [...]
NAUH Calls for Delay of Medicare DSH Cuts
The National Association of Urban Hospitals (NAUH) has asked members of the House of Representatives to sign onto a bipartisan letter from Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Devin Nunes (R-CA) asking House leaders to bring to the floor legislation to [...]
NAUH Testifies on Medicare DSH
NAUH has asked the House Ways and Means Committee to delay cuts in Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicare DSH). In written testimony submitted to the committee as part of a public hearing on hospital-related Medicare issues, NAUH told the [...]
Steeper Penalties in Hospitals’ Future?
Hospitals could soon face larger penalties from the federal government for selected infractions. Under a new proposed regulation from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the agency may soon impose larger fines for [...]
Safety-Net Hospital Finances Falling Behind Other Hospitals
While most hospitals have recovered from the worst of the recession, safety-net hospitals that were already weak before the recession now find a growing financial gap between themselves and other hospitals. So reports the new study “Hospital Financial Performance in [...]
