Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
Health Care Lobbying Rose in 2018
Hospitals and health systems spent $99.7 million lobbying in Washington, D.C. last year, just barely more than in 2017 but much less than in 2009, when the focus of health care lobbying was the Affordable Care Act, then just a proposal and not a law. The issues on which they spent the most money lobbying were the 340B program, site-neutral Medicare payments for outpatient services, safety-net hospitals, Medicare-for-all proposals, and Medicaid funding. Learn more about what hospitals spent their lobbying money on, who were the biggest lobbying spenders, and where [...]
One in Five Rural Hospitals at Risk of Closing
More than one out of every five rural hospitals in the U.S. is at risk of closing, according to a new report. Among the factors putting these hospitals at risk are growing uncompensated care, declining inpatient volume, inadequate reimbursement from public payers, workforce shortages, high drug costs, and the opioid epidemic. More than half of the rural hospitals in Mississippi and Alabama are at risk of closing, as are significant numbers of rural hospitals in Montana, Kansas, and Georgia. Many of these at-risk hospitals are considered essential to their communities, [...]
Medicaid Expansion: A Good Financial Decision for States?
Medicaid expansion is a good financial deal for states, according to a new analysis by The Commonwealth Fund. At the heart of this conclusion are three primary considerations: The federal government pays 90 percent of the total cost of Medicaid expansion. States save money by expanding their Medicaid programs – even after paying their 10 percent share, because they shift the cost of care for some of their residents, currently paid entirely by the state, to Medicaid, for which the federal government pays 90 percent of the cost. Any remaining [...]
Protections Overlooked as Medicaid Reforms are Implemented
In its eagerness to help states introduce changes in their Medicaid programs and reduce administrative burdens, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is ignoring regulatory requirements designed to understand and measure the impact of those changes on beneficiaries. According to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times, many states seeking to implement Medicaid work requirements have not projected how many of their beneficiaries would be affected by those requirements nor have they projected how many beneficiaries who are removed from the Medicaid rolls will gain employment after losing their [...]
Hospital Prices Lead Rise in Health Care Costs, Study Finds
A new study has concluded that rising hospital prices, not increased utilization, is primarily responsible for rising health care costs. Overall, according to a new analysis by the Health Care Cost Institute, health care costs continue to rise despite declining health care utilization. Among the report’s findings: Hospital prices are rising faster than physician prices. ER prices rose more than twice as much as ER utilization in 2017. Increases in spending for psychiatric services outpaced increases in utilization of those services. Inpatient spending rose 10 percent between 2013 and 2017 [...]