Medicaid DSH

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 December 2022 MACPAC meeting began with a Commission discussion on two potential recommendations for improving Medicaid race and ethnicity data reporting. As part of its commitment to prioritizing health equity in all of its work, the Commission is focused on how to improve Medicaid race and ethnicity data collection and reporting. In October, staff presented findings from a literature review and key stakeholder interviews, as well as possible approaches for improving the collection [...]

Federal Health Policy Update for Thursday, December 16

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, December 16.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Provider Relief Fund HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is releasing $9 billion in phase 4 Provider Relief Fund grants.  Payments will average $58,000 for what HHS is calling “small” providers, $289,000 for medium providers, and $1.7 million for large providers.  Learn more about the release of these funds from this HHS news release and go here for an explanation of how the agency calculated the payments.  [...]

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 [...]

Congress Gives Hospitals Medicaid DSH Relief

Medicaid DSH allocations to states will not be reduced right away thanks to a new continuing resolution to fund the federal government through December 11. The Medicare disproportionate share allocation cuts to the states, mandated by the Affordable Care Act but delayed by Congress several times, were delayed again earlier this year but scheduled to take effect on November 11.  With the latest continuing resolution, the cuts will be delayed yet another month. Learn more about the delay of Medicaid DSH cuts and other aspects of the continuing resolution that affect hospitals in the Healthcare Dive article “Providers win Medicare [...]

2020-10-08T13:00:57-04:00October 8, 2020|Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH|

Coronavirus Update for Wednesday, September 23

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 23. Continuing Resolution to Fund the Federal Government The House has passed, and the Senate is expected to take up and pass as soon as this week, a continuing resolution to fund the federal government from the beginning of the new fiscal year, on October 1, through December 11; the president is expected to sign the measure.  Key health care provisions in this continuing resolution include: Changes in the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Program that extend the period before repayment begins and [...]

CMS Provides Guidance on Medicaid DSH Calculations

State Medicaid program accounting for hospital uncompensated care when calculating hospital-specific Medicaid disproportionate share limits is the subject of new guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In the guidance, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services explains that because of several court rulings, states can decide for themselves whether to offset third-party payer payments from costs in their Medicaid DSH calculations for periods prior to June 2, 2017 but that beginning with that date,  CMS will enforce its own interpretation of the policy. In new guidance, CMS presents two methodologies for accounting for its mid-year policy change [...]

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 Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission kicked off its December meeting with highlights from its forthcoming issue of MACStats: Medicaid and CHIP Data Book, due out December 18, 2019. MACStats brings together statistics on Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment and spending, federal matching rates, eligibility levels, and access to care measures, which come from multiple sources. Later the Commission discussed a proposed rule that the Centers for Medicare [...]

Prescription Drug Bill Would Kill Two Years of Medicaid DSH Cuts

Two years of Medicaid DSH cuts would be eliminated under a new prescription drug bill released last week by the Senate Finance Committee. The Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act includes a provision that would eliminate two years of Affordable Care Act-mandated cuts in the allocation of federal money to the states for Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicaid DSH).  Those cuts have been delayed several times by Congress but were scheduled to begin in October of 2019 and run through federal FY 2025, only to be delayed again twice by continuing resolutions adopted by Congress to fund the federal government [...]

Medicaid DSH Cut Delayed

Cuts in Medicaid DSH payments to hospitals will be delayed for another month after Congress passed, and the president signed, a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through December 20. A cut in federal Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) allotments to the states is mandated by the Affordable Care Act and has been delayed several times by Congress.  If implemented, Medicaid DSH allotments to the states would be slashed $4 billion in FY 2020 and then $8 billion a year through FY 2025. Cuts in allotments to the states would result in reductions of Medicaid DSH payments to DSH-eligible [...]

MACPAC Posts Meeting Transcript

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met in Washington, D.C. earlier this month.  The issues on MACPAC’s agenda were: state readiness to report mandatory core set measures analysis of buprenorphine prescribing patterns among advanced practitioners in Medicaid Medicaid’s statistical information system (T-MSIS) Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payment (Medicaid DSH) allotments Medicaid policies related to third-party liability Medicaid and maternal health A transcript of the MACPAC meeting is now available.  Find it here.  

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