Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
More Insured Didn’t Affect Access
When the Affordable Care Act was debated and then passed, some observers questioned whether the health care system had enough providers to care for the millions of additional people who would be gaining coverage through the reform law. In particular, some worried that those who already had insurance would find their access to care reduced because of the new, increased demand for care among the newly insured. Those fears appear to have been groundless. In a new study published in the journal Health Affairs, researchers concluded that …we found no [...]
MACPAC Meets
Last week the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met in Washington, D.C. The agency performs policy and data analysis and offers recommendations to Congress, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the states. During two days of meetings, MACPAC commissioners received the following presentations: Federal CHIP Funding Update: When Will States Exhaust Their Allotments? Review of June Report Chapter: Program Integrity in Medicaid Managed Care Review of June Report Chapter: Medicaid and the Opioid Epidemic Medicare Savings Program: Eligible But Not Enrolled Medicaid Reform: Implications of Proposed [...]
Incentive Program Reduces Post-Acute-Care Costs
Participants in the Medicare Shared Savings Program are reducing Medicare expenditures for post-acute-care. So reports a new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. According to the study, the discharge of fewer patients into skilled nursing facilities and shorter stays for those who do spend time in such facilities reduced Medicare post-acute care spending for patients participating in the shared savings program by nine percent in 2014. Learn more about the study in this article in this McKnight’s Long-Term Care News article or go here to see the JAMA [...]
GAO Looks at Telehealth
With growing interest in using telehealth, or telemedicine, to serve patients in geographically remote or underserved areas, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, operating under a mandate from the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), has examined potential barriers to the use of this relatively new form of care. Among the barriers it found were cultural issues, inadequate licensure, lack of coverage (and reimbursement) for such services, and access and provider training issues. GAO offered no recommendations for addressing these challenges. Learn more about GAO’s findings by going [...]
Health Reform Helps Hospitals in Medicaid Expansion States
The Affordable Care Act’s enhancement of access to health insurance, whether through Medicaid expansion or the subsidization of insurance premiums for working-class and some middle-class Americans, has improved the financial health of hospitals. Especially hospitals in Medicaid expansion states. According to a new report from the Urban Institute, Using data through fiscal year 2015, this new analysis finds that the Medicaid expansion under the ACA increased Medicaid revenue by $5.0 million per hospital, reduced costs of uncompensated care by $3.2 million per hospital, and improved average operating margins by 2.5 [...]