Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
Amid Budget Woes, States May Look to Medicaid for Savings
Budget challenges may lead some states to seek changes in their Medicaid programs aimed at saving money. Or so reports Fitch Ratings, the bond rating company. According to Fitch, health care was the biggest driver in rising state spending between 2005 and 2015 and the portion of state spending on health and social services will increase from 30.7 percent in 2015 to 38.3 percent in 2025. Among the measures states will turn to in an effort to manage rising health care costs, according to Fitch, are Medicaid work requirements, reductions [...]
Verdict: Medicaid Expansion Improved Care and Access
A new review of studies published since the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion has concluded that expansion improved care, access to care, and coverage in states that expanded their Medicaid programs. Among the improvements cited by studies are: greater use of primary care more preventive health visits more behavioral health care shorter hospital stays fewer avoidable hospital admissions reduced access problems reduced reliance on hospital ERs as a primary source of care improved monitoring and compliance rates for patients with diabetes and hypertension higher rates of screening for prostate cancer [...]
CMS Reports on Medicaid Long-Term Care Spending
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a report on FY 2016 spending for Medicaid-covered long-term services and supports. The highlights of the $167 billion in state and federal spending include: Home and community-based services have accounted for almost all Medicaid long-term services and supports growth in recent years. Home and community-based services spending increased 10 percent in FY 2016, greater than the five percent average annual growth from FY 2011 through 2015. Institutional spending remained close to the FY 2010 amount. Institutional service spending decreased two [...]
CMS Introduces Medicaid “Scorecard”
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has unveiled a “scorecard” through which interested parties will be able to monitor outcomes for state Medicaid programs, state CHIP programs, and CMS itself while also comparing the performance of states to one another. The purpose of the scorecard, according to CMS, is “to modernize the Medicaid and CHIP program through greater transparency and accountability for the program’s outcomes.” CMS also explained that The first version of the Scorecard includes measures voluntarily reported by states, as well as federally reported measures in three [...]
Review: Telehealth Shows Mixed Results
A federal review of the use of telehealth services suggests that such services may be appear useful in helping to improve care and reduce costs under certain conditions but are less useful in others. According to a draft currently under review by the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, Remote intensive care unit (ICU) consultations likely reduce ICU mortality and ICU length of stay (LOS); specialty telehealth consultations likely reduce the time patients spend in the emergency department; and remote consultations for outpatient care likely improve access and a [...]