MedPAC Offers Recommendations on FY 2020 Rates, More
Last week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission released its annual report to Congress. Included in this report are MedPAC’s Medicare rate recommendations for the coming year. They are: hospital inpatient rates – a two percent increase hospital outpatient rates – [...]
HHS Talking to States About Medicaid Block Grants
In the absence of legislation to turn Medicaid into a block grant program, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is talking to some states about granting waivers that permit them – voluntarily – to turn their individual Medicaid [...]
Sneak Preview of Medicaid Spending Limits?
The imposition of spending limits for individual Medicaid recipients has been discussed in Washington policy circles for years and was offered in the White House’s recent FY 2020 budget proposal. While deliberations on such a proposal have never advanced in [...]
“Medicaid Shortfall” Definition Changing?
The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission last week discussed possible changes in how “Medicaid shortfall” is defined for the purpose of determining how much Medicaid disproportionate share money (Medicaid DSH) safety-net hospitals should receive. The discussion came in [...]
Trump Budget Brings Bad News for Private Safety-Net Hospitals
The FY 2020 federal budget proposed by the Trump administration this week would bring pain for private safety-net hospitals if adopted. Highlights of the proposed spending plan include: More than $135 billion in cuts in Medicare uncompensated care payments (Medicare [...]
MACPAC Meets
The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met for two days last week in Washington, D.C. The following is MACPAC’s own summary of the sessions. MACPAC looked ahead to its June 2019 report to Congress on the initial day [...]
MedPAC Meets
Last week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. to discuss a number of Medicare payment issues. Among the issues on MedPAC’s March agenda were: options for slowing the growth of Medicare fee-for-service spending for emergency department service [...]
Surprise Medical Bills Lead Patients to Change Hospitals
Patients who receive surprise medical bills are more likely to change hospitals than those who do not, a new study has found. According to an analysis of behavior by obstetrics patients, …11 percent of mothers experienced a surprise out-of-network bill with [...]
Stark Changes Coming to Facilitate Value Care?
At a Washington, D.C. conference, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma announced that changes coming in Stark law requirements will enable Medicare to make better use of value-based purchasing in its reimbursement system. In addition to addressing [...]
800 Hospitals Face Medicare Penalties
800 hospitals will see their Medicare payments reduced one percent this year because they are among the 25 percent of hospitals in the U.S. with the highest rate of hospital-acquired conditions. Among the 800 hospitals are 110 that are being [...]
