Policy Updates

Weighing the Impact of ACA Repeal

How might repeal of the Affordable Care Act affect the financial health of different kinds of hospitals? The New York Times recently took a look at how the 2010 reform law’s repeal would affect two Pennsylvania health systems: the Temple University Health System, led by a heavily Medicaid-dependent safety-net hospital located in one of the poorest communities in the country; and Main Line Health, a non-profit organization with several hospitals all located in affluent communities. See what the Times found here.

iqtsupport2017-01-09T06:00:13-05:00January 9, 2017|Affordable Care Act, hospitals, Medicaid|

Medicare Program Reduced Readmissions

Medicare’s hospital readmissions reduction program has resulted in a reduction of avoidable hospital readmissions. Or so concludes a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. According to the study, which included an analysis of 15 million patient discharges beween 2000 and 2013, readmissions declined after Medicare introduced the program and the hospitals with the poorest performance prior to the program’s launch experienced the greatest improvement in reducing avoidable readmissions. To learn more, read the study “Readmission Rates After Passage of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program: A Pre–Post Analysis” here, on the web site of the Annals of Internal [...]

iqtsupport2017-01-06T06:00:49-05:00January 6, 2017|Medicare|

Medicaid Directors Set 2017 Legislative Priorities

The National Association of Medicaid Directors has published its legislative priorities for 2017. Those 13 priorities, and the manner in which the group hopes to achieve them, are: Implement requirements for advance review of federal regulations and guidance by state Medicaid staff. Require in federal statute a distinct role for state Medicaid leaders to review the conceptual soundness and operational feasibility of federal regulations and guidance prior to finalization, which directly or indirectly impact the Medicaid program. Advance value-based reimbursement methodologies for all types of Medicaid providers. Update the tools states may use to allow for aligned value-based purchasing approaches [...]

iqtsupport2017-01-05T16:20:54-05:00January 5, 2017|Medicaid|

Medicaid Directors Set Goals for First 100 Days

The National Association of Medicaid Directors has published a paper detailing its objectives for its interaction with the Trump administration during that administration’s first 100 days in office. We call upon the new Administration to convene with NAMD’s Board of Medicaid Directors to solidify specific areas for ongoing collaboration to be carried out and reflected throughout our respective agencies. The Administration should make two updates to the process for developing federal Medicaid regulations and guidance. First, build in a step for engaging states during the pre-conceptual phase of work. Second, establish a distinct process whereby state Medicaid leaders can review [...]

iqtsupport2017-01-04T06:00:43-05:00January 4, 2017|Medicaid, Medicaid managed care|

New Medicare Payments to Help With High-Need Patients

New Medicare payment practices that took effect on January 1 will improve payments to physicians who care for high-need patients in the hope that those enhanced payments will improve the care such seniors receive. Among those improved payments are: payments to physicians for the time they spend working with specialists, families, pharmacists, caregivers, and others to coordinate services for seriously ill patients improved payments for time spent coordinating seniors’ transitions between different care settings and home and connecting those patients with additional resources separate payments to perform cognitive impairment assessments payments for time physicians spend reviewing patient records and talking [...]

iqtsupport2017-01-03T06:00:14-05:00January 3, 2017|Medicare|