July 2019

HHS Launches New Quality Initiative

The evaluation, adoption, and streamlining of federal health care quality programs will be the objective of a new “quality summit” launched by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In response to an executive order issued by the president, HHS has established the quality summit because, according to an HHS news release, A long-stated goal of the Trump Administration has been to shift our current government healthcare programs from paying for services and procedures to paying for better patient outcomes.  We believe the best way to effect this shift is through greater transparency and a focus on quality outcomes [...]

2019-07-11T06:00:33-04:00July 11, 2019|Medicare|
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The Role of Medicaid in Addressing Social Determinants of Health

Medicaid can play a major role in addressing the social determinants of health. Or so argues a recent post on the Health Affairs Blog. According to the post, social determinants of health – income, education, decent housing, access to food, and more – significantly influence the health and well-being of individuals – including low-income individuals who have adequate access to quality health care.  Medicaid, the post maintains, can play a major role in addressing social determinants of health. The post outlines the role state Medicaid programs can play in addressing social determinants of health; describes tools for such action such [...]

2019-07-10T06:00:27-04:00July 10, 2019|Medicaid|
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Study Finds Surprise in Sources of Medicaid, CHIP Growth

While enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP has been greatest among low-income families working full-time for small businesses, growth in Medicaid and CHIP among low-income families employed full-time by big businesses has been rising faster in recent years. According to a new study published in the journal Health Affairs, Medicaid and CHIP enrollment among low-income families employed full-time by large companies rose from 45 percent to 69 percent between 2008 and 2016.  The driving force behind this growing reliance on public insurance appears to be the shift of health insurance costs from companies to employees:  employee share of health insurance premiums [...]

2019-07-08T14:40:03-04:00July 8, 2019|Medicaid|
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CMS Outlines New Medicaid Program Integrity Activities

The federal government will introduce a number of initiatives to combat Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse in the coming months. In an article on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ blog, CMS administrator Seema Verma outlined her agency’s major Medicaid program integrity efforts of the past year, including: Oversight of state Medicaid claiming and program integrity Disallowing unallowable claims of federal funding Increased audits and oversight Data sharing and partnerships Education, technical assistance, and collaboration Reducing improper payments Initiatives to be introduced in the coming months include (as described in the blog post): A proposed comprehensive update to Medicaid’s [...]

2019-07-03T10:12:38-04:00July 3, 2019|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicaid|
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Readmissions Higher for Medicare Advantage Patients

Medicare Advantage patients are more likely to be readmitted to the hospital for existing medical problems than participants in traditional Medicare, a new study has found. According to a report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Medicare Advantage patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia were readmitted to hospitals because of those medical problems at slightly higher rates than patients served by traditional Medicare. Learn more from the Annals of Internal Medicine study “Hospital Readmission Rates in Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare: A Retrospective Population-Based Analysis” and the Healthcare Dive article “MA patients' readmission rates [...]

2019-07-01T06:00:15-04:00July 1, 2019|Medicare|
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