MACPAC

Federal Health Policy Update for Monday, August 30

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, August 30. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Temporary Suspension of COVID-19 Data Reporting Requirements for Some Hospitals The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response has announced that federal hospital COVID-19 reporting requirements for the entire state of Louisiana and parts of Mississippi have been suspended for seven days in response to Hurricane Ida. While hospitals in the affected areas may still report their data if they [...]

iqtsupport2021-08-30T18:45:57-04:00August 30, 2021|Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Alternative payment models, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for Wednesday, July 14

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, July 14. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. CMS – Proposed 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule CMS has released its proposed Medicare physician fee schedule rule for 2022. Highlights of the proposed rule, which is more than 1700 pages, include: loosening current restrictions on the use of telehealth and expanding its use for behavioral health services; expanding the reach of the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program; requiring clinicians to meet a higher performance threshold to receive [...]

iqtsupport2021-07-14T18:50:52-04:00July 14, 2021|Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Friday, July 9

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Friday, July 9. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House President Biden has issued an executive order “…to promote competition in the American economy, which will lower prices for families, increase wages for workers, and promote innovation and even faster economic growth.” Among other things, the executive order calls for closer scrutiny of corporate consolidation, maintaining that such consolidation results in a “…lack of competition [that] drives up prices for consumers. As fewer large players have [...]

iqtsupport2021-07-09T17:05:45-04:00July 9, 2021|Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicare|

Federal Health Policy Update for Monday, June 28

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, June 28. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Supreme Court Decision in Affordable Care Act Case The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of a case in which insurers unsuccessfully sued to recover reductions in their Affordable Care Act federal cost-sharing reduction payments. White House The White House has posted a transcript of the June 22 press briefing given by its COVID-19 response team and public health officials. Department of Health and Human Services [...]

iqtsupport2021-06-28T17:33:25-04:00June 28, 2021|Affordable Care Act, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicare, MedPAC|

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 sessions. MACPAC kicked off its April meeting with a review of a draft chapter for the June 2021 report to Congress and recommendations on addressing high-cost specialty drugs. Since 2017, the Commission has been working to identify potential models that could help states address the challenges of high prices. The presentation focused on drugs that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the accelerated approval pathway. Such approvals are based [...]

iqtsupport2021-04-14T06:00:46-04:00April 14, 2021|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid regulations|

MACPAC Looks at Recipients of Provider Relief Fund Grants

What kinds of providers did and did not receive grants from the CARES Act’s Provider Relief Fund? What were the obstacles to receiving those COVID-19 relief grants and why did some providers fare better in the distribution of Provider Relief Fund resources than others? These questions and more are addressed in “COVID Relief Funding for Medicaid Providers,” a new analysis released by the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission.

iqtsupport2021-03-05T06:00:44-05:00March 5, 2021|MACPAC, Medicaid|

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 sessions. The October 2020 MACPAC meeting opened with a panel discussion on restarting Medicaid eligibility redeterminations when the public health emergency ends. It included Jennifer Wagner, director of Medicaid eligibility and enrollment at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; René Mollow, deputy director for health care benefits and eligibility at the California Department of Health Care Services; and Lee Guice, director of policy and operations at the Department for Medicaid Services, Kentucky Cabinet for [...]

iqtsupport2020-11-05T06:00:25-05:00November 5, 2020|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicaid regulations|

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 sessions. The February 2020 MACPAC meeting opened with a continuation of MACPAC’s examination of Medicaid’s role in maternal health, when Medicaid officials from Michigan, New Jersey, and North Carolina joined the Commission to discuss how their states are addressing maternal morbidity and mortality.* The Commission plans to include a chapter on maternal health in its June 2020 report to Congress. Commissioners later turned their attention to policy options for improving enrollment in the Medicare Savings Program. [...]

iqtsupport2020-03-06T06:00:04-05:00March 6, 2020|hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare|

MACPAC Looks at Medicaid DSH

At a time when cuts in Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicaid DSH) are still scheduled for the current fiscal year and some in Congress are calling for a new approach to allotting DSH funds among the states, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission has released its annual analysis of Medicaid DSH allotments to the states. The report includes: data about changes in the uninsured rate demographic information about the uninsured information about the cost of hospital uncompensated care perspectives on hospital Medicaid shortfalls a comparison of hospital uncompensated care costs when calculated using different methodologies data about [...]

iqtsupport2019-11-08T06:00:27-05:00November 8, 2019|hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments|

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 sessions. The Commission devoted its Thursday morning discussion to integration of care for beneficiaries who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. Panelists Amber Christ, directing attorney at Justice in Aging; Griffin Myers, chief medical officer at Oak Street Health; and Michael Monson, senior vice president for Medicaid and complex care at Centene, presented beneficiary, provider, and health plan perspectives and a question and answer session followed. After lunch, MACPAC staff briefed the Commission on [...]

iqtsupport2019-11-07T06:00:47-05:00November 7, 2019|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments|