Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
S&P: Stable 2019 for Non-Profit Hospitals
Non-profit hospitals should experience a relatively stable 2019, according to S&P Global Financial. The bond-rating company estimates that 81 percent of such hospitals will be stable this year, with roughly equal numbers of hospitals looking at upgrades and downgrades. This stability is being driven by strong balance sheets and diversification while challenges to hospital financial performance and stability include the possibility of a recession, rising costs for serving an aging population, changes in Medicaid eligibility and payment policies, and the continued emergence of non-traditional health care providers. S&P also concludes [...]
Could Medicaid Buy-In Push Aside Medicare for All?
Officials in ten states are giving consideration, in one form or another, to permitting uninsured low-income residents to buy into their Medicaid programs. So while Washington considers the possibility of Medicare for all, the ten states – Nevada, New Mexico, California, Delaware, Oregon, Washington, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin – are tackling the many issues they must address if they intend to pursue such a ground-breaking option. Among them: Who would be eligible to participate? What benefits would be offered? Would health plans be available on Affordable Care Act health [...]
“Oh Say Can We See?”: Ways & Means Leaders Seek CMMI Transparency
The chairman and ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee have written to CMS administrator Seema Verma to ask her to address the lack of transparency in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. In the bipartisan letter, committee chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) and ranking member Kevin Brady (R-TX) note that “…Congress established CMMI to test different innovative delivery system and payment models to improve quality and reduce costs for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries” but observe that “…significant policy changes made unilaterally by the executive branch without sufficient [...]
New ACO Incentive: Exemption From 3-Day Stay SNF Requirement
In an effort to encourage more Medicare accountable care organizations to assume financial risk for the care of their patients, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is extending its exemption from the three-day inpatient stay requirement before Medicare ACOs can discharge their patients to skilled nursing facilities to ACOs participating in selected ACO model programs that involve two-sided risk under preliminary prospective assignment with retrospective reconciliation. This move expands the waiver from the three-day SNF requirement that ACOs that assume greater financial risk already receive. Details about the new [...]
End Run Around Congress for Medicaid Block Grants?
The Trump administration reportedly is considering introducing Medicaid block grants through regulations rather than legislation, according to published reports. Those reports explain that the administration may seek to offer states an opportunity to apply to the federal government to use Medicaid block grants by obtaining section 1115 Medicaid waivers, a commonly used tool for states seeking exemptions from federal legislative or regulatory requirements. As reported by the online publication The Hill, …the Trump administration is now considering issuing guidance to states encouraging them to apply for caps on federal Medicaid [...]