Medicaid regulations

MACPAC Meets

Members of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met publicly last week in Washington, D.C. The following is MACPAC’s own summary of its meeting. The April 2024 Commission meeting began with a presentation of a draft chapter on demographic data collection in Medicaid for the June Report to Congress. Racial and ethnic health disparities persist throughout the U.S. health care system. Previous meetings have focused on the collection of primary language and limited English proficiency, sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), and disability data to help assess and address these health disparities. Measuring differences in access and use of [...]

joe2024-04-16T17:34:59-04:00April 17, 2024|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid long-term services and supports, Medicaid regulations|

MACPAC Meets

Members of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met publicly last week in Washington, D.C. The following is MACPAC’s own summary of its meeting. The March 2024 MACPAC meeting began with proposed recommendations on improving the transparency of Medicaid financing. The proposed recommendations are intended to improve the transparency of Medicaid financing methods, state-level financing amounts, and provider-level financing amounts. The presentation also included a recommendation to apply the proposed Medicaid financing transparency requirements to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Staff reviewed the rationale for the recommendations and the implications for various stakeholders. The Commission will vote on [...]

joe2024-03-13T16:48:07-04:00March 14, 2024|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid regulations, Medicaid regulations for the disabled|

Federal Health Policy Update for March 7

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for March 1-7. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress On Wednesday, March 16 the House passed, by a vote of 339-85, the first package of spending bills to fund some federal agencies through the remainder of the 2024 federal fiscal year. The House bills include several health care provisions extending programs that were set to expire on Friday, March 8. The bills would extend the following provisions and programs through December 31, 2024: The continued delay of cuts to Medicaid disproportionate [...]

joe2024-03-07T21:42:53-05:00March 7, 2024|Alternative payment models, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, post-acute care|

Federal Health Policy Update for February 22

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for February 16-22. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. CMS and Medicaid DSH Payments CMS has published a final rule governing how third-party payers are factored into the calculation of hospitals’ Medicaid disproportionate share hospital-specific payment limit. This change requires that the calculation be based solely on Medicaid costs and payments and that costs and payments associated with dually eligible (Medicare and Medicaid) patients be excluded from the calculation of that limit. The effect of this change is that hospitals that are [...]

joe2024-02-22T22:00:03-05:00February 22, 2024|Alternative payment models, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, health equity, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid regulations, Medicaid upper-payment limit, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for January 25

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 12 - 25. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Department of Health and Human Services – Funding Models HHS has announced a new model to test approaches for addressing the behavioral and physical health and health-related social needs of people with Medicaid and Medicare. The goal of the Innovation in Behavioral Health Model (IBH) is to improve the overall quality of care and outcomes for adults with mental health conditions and/or substance use disorders by connecting them with the physical, behavioral, [...]

joe2024-01-25T22:30:26-05:00January 25, 2024|Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, health equity, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, social determinants of health, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for December 20

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government December 14-20. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The House is in recess until January 9. The Senate has delayed its recess to continue negotiations on a possible foreign aid and border policy deal. Democrats from the House Ways and Means Committee have published a report on the relationship between the U.S. health care system and climate change. View their report “Health Care and the Climate Crisis: Preparing America’s Health Care Infrastructure.” No Surprises Act The federal government has reopened the [...]

MACPAC Meets

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met for two days last week in Washington, D.C. The following is MACPAC’s own summary of the meeting. MACPAC’s December 2023 meeting opened with a session that highlighted findings related to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data collection as part of the Commission’s focus on the collection of primary language and limited English proficiency, SOGI, and disability data for the purposes of assessing and addressing health disparities. During this discussion, we reviewed the purpose of SOGI data and federal and state priorities for collecting these data, which includes an overview of [...]

joe2023-12-19T15:36:42-05:00December 19, 2023|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, health equity, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations|

Federal Health Policy Update for December 14

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for December 8-14. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. MedPAC Rate Recommendations At their latest public meeting, members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission voted preliminary approval of the following rate updates for 2025 Medicare payments: Inpatient and outpatient services –update provided for in current law plus 1.5% and adoption of a safety-net index policy to pay safety-net hospitals another $4 billion. Physicians and other health professionals –update of 50% of the Medicare economic index and a new add-on payment for services [...]

joe2023-12-14T22:30:50-05:00December 14, 2023|340b, ACO, Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, COVID-19, health equity, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, post-acute care, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for December 7

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for December 1-7. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress While Congress has more than a month before the next federal funding deadline of January 19, committees are working to prepare and pass health care legislation. On the House calendar for floor votes next week is H.R. 5378, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act. This bill would eliminate the pending cuts to Medicaid DSH for two years (those cuts are temporarily suspended through January 19); introduce site-neutral payments for drug administration services [...]

joe2023-12-07T21:50:17-05:00December 7, 2023|340b, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, COVID-19, health equity, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for November 16

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for November 10-16. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress This week Congress passed another continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government beyond Friday, when the current CR expires. This bill establishes two separate deadlines for lawmakers to pass certain spending bills so they can avoid an omnibus bill that includes all 12 appropriations bills. Congress must pass four of the spending bills by January 19 and the other bills by February 2. The Labor, HHS, and Education bill, one of [...]