Community Factors Influence Readmissions, Study Says
A new study reports that a variety of factors, including several linked to socio-economic status, account for 58 percent of the variation in the rate of Medicare hospital readmissions at the county level. Among those factors are low employment, living [...]
Medicaid Growth Doesn’t Mean Increased ER Use
A new study has found that increased enrollment in Medicaid does not necessarily result in increased use of hospital emergency rooms. Nor does it necessarily contribute to difficulty obtaining care. According to a study of ten states that eased their [...]
Web Site Flaw Keeps Medicaid, CHIP Applicants in Limbo
More than 400,000 people thought to be eligible for Medicaid and CHIP appear to have their eligibility determinations caught in the healthcare.gov web site. Through a flaw in the federal health care web site, eligibility notifications for these applicants have [...]
Will “Private Option” Mean Reduced Medicaid Benefits?
While many states have chosen to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid simply by expanding their existing Medicaid programs, a number of states are pursuing a different approach: crafting programs that enable the newly eligible to [...]
Congress Pursues Post-Acute Care Reform
Members of Congress are working to improve the manner in which Medicare pays for post-acute care for seniors. Pursuing an area that MedPAC, which advises Congress on Medicare payment issues, has cited as in need of improvement and reform, a [...]
CMS Finalizes 2015 Qualified Health Plan Criteria
The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a letter to insurers describing the provider networks insurers will need to be certified as qualified health plans in the federally facilitated marketplace in 2015. The final criteria emphasize [...]
NAUH Endorses SGR Bill, Way to Pay For It
In a letter to Ron Wyden (D-OR), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the National Association of Urban Hospitals endorsed S. 2110, the SGR Repeal and Medicare Provider Modernization Act of 2014. The bill calls for the repeal of the [...]
MACPAC Recommends Steps to Ensure Continuity of Care
Citing income volatility among low-income Americans, the federal agency charged with analyzing Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has recommended that Congress adopt measures to ensure that low-income Americans retain health insurance as their income fluctuates above and [...]
MedPAC Proposes Pay Raise for Hospitals
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has urged Congress to direct the administration to raise Medicare acute-care hospital inpatient and outpatient fee-for-service rates 3.25 percent in FY 2015. It also recommended no rate increases for ambulatory surgical centers, dialysis providers, [...]
NAUH Asks House Members to Co-Sponsor Bill
The National Association of Urban Hospitals has asked members of the House of Representatives to co-sponsor H.R. 4188, the Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmissions Program Act. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) and introduced just last [...]
