Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
HRSA Tries Again With New 340B Model
Following a federal court rejection earlier this year of a previously announced pilot program to alter how the 340B Drug Pricing Program is administered, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration has announced that it will implement a revised 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program. Under this new model, qualifying drug manufacturers will be able to provide the 340B ceiling price to eligible 340B providers through rebates, an approach manufacturers have increasingly sought, rather than the upfront discounts that providers prefer. According to a HRSA news [...]
Loss of Insurance Options Hitting Hospital Bottom Lines
Hospitals are starting to feel the impact of the loss of enhanced subsidies for the purchase of Affordable Care Act health insurance plans. According to officials from a number of for-profit hospital companies, they have been surprised at how few patients who lost their Affordable Care Act enhanced premium subsidies have purchased alternative coverage, leaving them uninsured instead. Nearly three million fewer people purchased insurance through Affordable Care Act exchanges this year than last year. Such individuals continue to turn to hospitals for care – increasingly, for care they put [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for August 6
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for July 31 to August 6. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.CongressThe Senate is expected to vote on its version of a continuing resolution (CR) before leaving for recess; it would extend federal government funding through December 11. Notably, the legislation includes language that would prevent the Office of Management and Budget from moving forward with its proposed change in how federal grants are awarded and overseen.Because appropriations bills have not cleared [...]
More Medicaid DSH Money Coming for Some Hospitals?
Some hospitals may be in line for larger Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments as a result of a federal court decision that calls for changes in how those Medicaid DSH payments are calculated. Last week, a U.S. District court in Texas again vacated a 2023 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regulation that excludes inpatient days covered by uncompensated care pools, such as through section 1115 waivers, when quantifying Medicaid days for the purpose of calculating hospitals’ Medicaid DSH payments. This decision applies nationwide and has implications for the computation [...]
Rural Areas Account for Net Loss of U.S. Hospitals
Rural hospitals are closing at a significant rate while the number of urban hospitals in the U.S. is mostly holding steady, according to a new analysis. The Health Care Affordability Lab at Yale found that between 2001 and 2023, 114 new rural hospitals opened – but 348 closed, a net loss of 234 hospitals in rural areas. Thirty-one of the 50 states experienced a net loss of rural hospitals, led by Texas, (24), Tennessee (14), California and Georgia (12), and Kansas (10). States with the biggest net increases in rural [...]