Policy Updates

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 consistent evidence that increases in the proportion of adults with [...]

iqtsupport2017-05-10T11:50:08-04:00May 10, 2017|Affordable Care Act|

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 Legislation Preliminary Findings From Evaluations of Medicaid Expansions Under Section [...]

iqtsupport2017-05-04T06:00:23-04:00May 4, 2017|Medicaid|

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 Internal Medicine study “Changes in Postacute Care in the Medicare [...]

iqtsupport2017-04-26T06:00:52-04:00April 26, 2017|Medicare|

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 here to see the report Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring [...]

iqtsupport2017-04-25T06:00:37-04:00April 25, 2017|Uncategorized|

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 percentage points. This study also finds that the financial benefits [...]

iqtsupport2017-04-24T06:00:07-04:00April 24, 2017|Affordable Care Act, hospitals, Medicaid|

Medicaid Work Requirements

Both Congress and a number of states have discussed introducing work requirements into their Medicaid programs. Such a proposal was part of the American Health Care Act, a number of governors and state legislators have discussed work requirements as a condition of Medicaid eligibility, and some states are reportedly considering including such requirements in section 1115 Medicaid waiver applications. In a new report, the Congressional Research Service examines the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ authority to grant such waivers and how courts might look at such requirements if they were be contested. Go here to see the Congressional [...]

iqtsupport2017-04-21T06:00:59-04:00April 21, 2017|Medicaid|

Medicaid Per Capita Caps Explained

In a new report, the Commonwealth Fund looks at Medicaid per capita caps, an idea that has been discussed for years, that was part of the as-yet unsuccessful American Health Care Act, and a proposal that is almost certain to resurface in the near future. Among other things, the article explains what per capita caps are and how they would work describes how per capita caps differ from current Medicaid policy considers how the implementation of per capita caps might affect low-income people, providers, and insurers Learn more in the Commonwealth Fund article “Essential Facts About Health Reform Alternatives: Medicaid [...]

iqtsupport2017-04-19T06:00:53-04:00April 19, 2017|Medicaid|

Programs, Not Penalties, Drive Readmission Reductions

Participating in federal value-based payment programs does more to reduce hospital readmissions than penalties levied on hospitals with too many readmissions. Or so reports a new study published by JAMA Internal Medicine. According to the study, hospitals that participated in one or more of three Medicare value-based payment programs – its meaningful use of electronic health records program, the bundled payment for care initiative, or an accountable care organization (ACO) program – enjoyed bigger decreases in their avoidable Medicare readmissions than hospitals that participated in no such programs but were only subject to financial penalties levied under the Medicare hospital [...]

iqtsupport2017-04-18T06:00:36-04:00April 18, 2017|Accountable Care Organization, health care reform, hospitals|

New MACPAC Study Evaluates Medicaid, Medicare Payments

Medicaid payments to hospitals are comparable to or even higher than Medicare payments. Or at least they are once supplemental Medicaid payments are included. So concludes a new study by the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, a non-partisan legislative branch agency that advises the states, Congress, and the administration on Medicaid and CHIP payment and access issues. In what MACPAC bills as the “first-ever study to construct a state-level payment index to compare fee-for-service inpatient hospital payments across states and to benchmark Medicaid payments to other payers such as Medicare,” the study found that Across states, base Medicaid [...]

iqtsupport2017-04-17T06:00:40-04:00April 17, 2017|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicare|

Medical Homes and High-Need Patients

With five percent of patients accounting for 50 percent of health care costs, such high-need patients are the subject of increasing attention as health care providers search for better ways to serve them at less cost. Such patients are especially challenging when they lack the financial resources and personal support systems needed to address their considerable medical needs. One of those ways is through the concept of the medical home: an approach to primary care, also often referred to as a patient-centered medical home, that is a team-based approach to delivering patient-specific, coordinated, accessible care that focuses on quality and [...]

iqtsupport2017-04-14T06:00:55-04:00April 14, 2017|Uncategorized|