Fitch: Medicaid Block Grants, MFAR Threaten States, Providers
Medicaid block grants and the proposed Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation (MFAR) pose new financial threats to providers and states, according to Fitch Ratings, the financial rating company. MFAR poses the greater threat, Fitch believes, noting in a new analysis that [...]
Verma Responds to MFAR Critics
CMS administrator Seema Verma addresses criticism of her agency’s proposed Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation in a new commentary on the CMS blog. Critics of the so-called MFAR regulation have argued that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposed regulation, [...]
340B Déjà Vu: CMS Seeks to Collect Data From Hospitals
For the second time in four months, the federal government has announced its intention to collect data from hospitals and other providers on what they pay for the prescription drugs they purchase through the section 340B prescription drug discount program. [...]
Verma Responds to Medicaid Block Grant Critics
Last week the Trump administration unveiled its Healthy Adult Opportunity program, a new, optional, already-controversial approach to structuring state Medicaid programs. Ever since, the program – essentially, Medicaid block grants – has been the subject of criticism from many public [...]
NASH Endorses Surprise Medical Bills Legislation
The National Alliance of Safety-Net Hospitals has endorsed the Consumer Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills Act of 2020, surprise medical bills legislation developed by the House Ways and Means Committee. In a letter to the committee’s chairman and ranking member, [...]
NASH Raises Concerns About Proposed Budget in News Release
Medicare and Medicaid cuts detailed in the administration’s proposed FY 2021 budget could be harmful to private safety-net hospitals, the National Alliance of Safety-Net Hospitals declared in a news release issued in response to that proposed budget. Among those cuts: [...]
Health Care Groups Rebel Against Proposed Federal Regulation, Program
The administration’s proposed Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation and its guidance encouraging states to implement Medicaid block grants have incurred widespread opposition among a variety of health care groups. The Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation would, if adopted, impose new restrictions on [...]
Health Care Groups Rebel Against Proposed Federal Regulation, Program
The administration’s proposed Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation and its guidance encouraging states to implement Medicaid block grants has incurred widespread opposition among a variety of health care groups. The Medicaid fiscal accountability regulation would, if adopted, impose new restrictions on [...]
Hundreds of Hospitals Penalized for Medical Mistakes
786 hospitals will see their Medicare payments slashed one percent for a year because of their performance under Medicare’s hospital-acquired conditions reduction program. That program penalizes the 25 percent of hospitals with the highest rate of patient safety problems, such [...]
Implications of Medicaid Block Grants
States will be able to pursue new Medicaid block grants under guidance recently sent by federal regulators to state Medicaid directors. But what does that mean? In a new article, the Commonwealth Fund examines how the Centers for Medicare & [...]
