Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
CMS Unveils Medicaid “Scorecard”
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had introduced a new “Medicaid scorecard” that the agency says it hopes will “…increase public transparency about the programs’ administration and outcomes.” The scorecard, now posted on the Medicaid web site, presents information and data from the federal government, and reported voluntarily by the states, in three areas: state health system performance, state administrative accountability, and federal administrative accountability. The scorecard currently offers information on selected health and program indicators. Visitors can see comparative data between states and also extensive information about individual [...]
Hospital Government Payment Losses Could Reach $218 Billion by 2028
A recent study concluded that hospitals can expect to lose about $218 billion in federal Medicare and Medicaid payments between 2010, when the latest round of major cuts began, and 2028. Among those cuts cited in the study, which was commissioned by the American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals, are: $79 billion for DRG documentation and coding adjustments $73 billion for Medicare sequestration $26 billion for Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Medicaid DSH) $11 billion in cuts associated with the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 Other cuts [...]
Uninsured Rise Could Hurt Non-Profit Hospitals
The recent growth in the number of uninsured Americans could be especially harmful to non-profit hospitals and health systems, according to S&P Global Ratings. As reported by Healthcare Dive, S&P believes that because non-profit hospitals serve larger proportions of uninsured patients, they are more vulnerable to increases in the number of uninsured people. Healthcare Dive also notes that In particular, S&P warns of a credit negative for nonprofits as patients who started in a care plan with health insurance seek to continue treatment without it. Many hospitals already are struggling [...]
MedPAC Issues 2018 Report to Congress
The non-partisan legislative branch agency that advises Congress and the administration on Medicare payment policies has submitted its mandatory annual report to Congress. Among the findings included in the report by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission are: Medicare’s hospital readmissions reduction program has not resulted in increases in emergency room visits or hospital observation stays. Many Medicare accountable care organizations, while maintaining or improving quality, are producing more modest savings than predicted. MedPAC approves of Medicare’s proposals to redesign the case-mix classification system for skilled nursing facilities. MedPAC supports changes [...]
ACOs Moving Into Medicaid
Accountable care organizations, one of the centerpieces of recent Medicare efforts to test new ways to deliver care more effectively and at less cost, are finding their way into state Medicaid programs as well. Today, a dozen states employ Medicaid ACOs and another ten are planning to do so. Learn more about Medicaid ACOs, and how one state (Minnesota), in particular, is using them, in this Kaiser Health News report.