Tag Archives: Medicaid Expansion
C-suite feels ripple effect from Medicaid expansion, study says
http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/c-suite-feels-ripple-effect-medicaid-expansion-study-says
Medicaid expansion is making a difference as to whether hospitals are investing in clinics, new equipment and hiring new staff, or looking at the status quo and layoffs, according to a recent report by Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.
Hospitals in Medicaid expansion states have realized a drop in uncompensated care; an increase in institutional financial security; new community efforts to integrate and improve care; and innovative programs to expand access to specialists, according to the study.
CEOs who head hospitals in both expansion and non-expansion states said they saw a drop in uninsured rates in expansion states that was not as dramatic in non-expansion states.
This has translated to a decline in uninsured patient stays by close to 40 percent. Non expansion states reported a decline of 2.9 percent.
Uninsured would drop by millions, enrollment would swell if Medicaid expansion holdouts opted in
Nineteen states have yet to expand their Medicaid programs under theAffordable Care Act, and a new study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows just how much enrollment would increase if they did: 7.8 to 8.8 million, while the number of uninsured would decline between 4.1 and 5 million, the research found.
That’s in addition to about 6.9 million people who would be subtracted from the ranks of the uninsured under the major coverage provisions of the ACA.
More than half of these people would be in three states: Texas (1.2 million), Florida (877,000), and Georgia (509,000). More than four-fifths of the uninsured people gaining Medicaid eligibility would be adult without children, while about 48 percent of the uninsured gaining eligibility would be white non-Hispanic; 52 percent are working either full- or part-time.
Mike Pence’s health policy record is a mixed bag
http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/mike-pences-health-policy-record-mixed-bag
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is in the spotlight this week as the man Donald Trump has picked to be his running mate. Pence’s decisions about health and health care in Indiana have drawn attention from within and outside the state. His record could be important in November, because Trump doesn’t have a legislative record at all.
Here’s a quick look at the governor’s history in terms of health policy in Indiana.
Seven healthcare questions the candidates aren’t answering
Hillary Clinton is quick to tout that she will defend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and build on it to slow the growth of out-of-pocket healthcare costs while Donald Trump vows to repeal the ACA and have a series of reforms ready for implementation that follow free-market principles.
But when taking a closer look at their proposals, Clinton and Trump are keeping mum about some healthcare issues, and that’s raising some critical questions. Managed Healthcare Executive asked industry experts to comment on what topics presidential candidates are being quiet about, and why they suspect they’re not talking about them.
Medicaid Expansion: Driving Innovation In Behavioral Health Integration
Safety-net providers in states that have accepted the federal funding available for Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are experiencing a positive ripple effect, where increased insurance coverage rates among patients and thus greater financial security for safety-net institutions are translating into better care. We found that safety-net providers in states that expand Medicaid are delivering more services and better-coordinated care than what is available in states rejecting the expansion.
Of particular interest is the effect of Medicaid expansion on attempts to integrate behavioral health services with primary health care — long a thorny issue for safety-net providers. Research has shown that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased access to behavioral health services. We present case studies from two provider systems that illustrate some of the innovative approaches that are improving the quality of behavioral health care at safety-net institutions.
The Fundamentally Different Goals of the Affordable Care Act and Republican ‘Replacement’ Plans
Rep. Pete Sessions and Sen. Bill Cassidy introduced legislation last month calling for replacing elements of the Affordable Care Act. A House task force established by SpeakerPaul Ryan is expected to follow with more health-care proposals. These Republican health plans are generally referred to as “replacements” for the ACA–in the spirit of “repeal and replace”–as though they would accomplish the same objectives in ways that conservatives prefer. But the proposals are better understood as alternatives with very different goals, trade-offs, and consequences. Whether they are “better” or “worse” depends on your perspective.
To boil down to the most basic differences: The central focus of the Affordable Care Act is expanding coverage and strengthening consumer protections in the health insurance marketplace through government regulation. By contrast, the primary objective of Republican plans is to try to reduce health-care spending by giving people incentives to purchase less costly insurance with more “skin in the game,” with the expectation that they will become more prudent consumers of health services. They also aim to reduce federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid and the federal government’s role in both programs. Elements of the ACA were designed to reduce costs, such as the law’s Medicare payment reforms, and elements of Republican plans such as tax credits aim to expand access to insurance, but the primary aims of the ACA and the Republican plans differ.
Declining Charity Care Levels Raise Questions About 340B Hospital Eligibility
The 340B program was created for an important purpose: to help uninsured, needy patients access the medicines they need. However, a new analysis paints a very different picture of how the program is currently operating. While 340B hospitals are tasked with serving vulnerable patients, data show 64 percent of these hospitals provide less charity care than the national average for all hospitals, including for-profit entities. Not only is this low number concerning, it represents a decrease in charity care rates for 340B hospitals since 2011. This begs the question of whether hospitals or patients are benefitting more from the program.
This Obamacare Repeal Plan Cripples State Budgets—and Economies
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2016/06/14/Obamacare-Repeal-Plan-Cripples-State-Budgets-and-Economies
If Republicans finally make good on their vow to repeal the Affordable Care Act — but without adopting a suitable replacement — 24 million Americans would be removed from the health care insurance rolls in 2021. And federal spending on health care would decline by $927 billion over the next decade, according to a provocative new study by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Healthcare reform, value-based pay bolsters credit ratings, for now, experts say
While reforms tied to the Affordable Care Act have most healthcare providers focusing on quality and efficiency, financial experts say the dramatic change in business model is driving improvement in credit ratings. But worries still persists about just how stable those changes are.
According to Martin Arrick, a managing director at Standard and Poor’s, said a number of factors are affecting ratings trends, although the outlook in general appears to improving. S&P had been negative on the healthcare sector a couple of years ago, mostly because of pressure on operating margins, but that outlook has since reverted back to stable.
“We still see pressure on operating margins, but there are two big things,” said Arrick. “One is that hospitals have done a good job containing costs and keeping their margins generally solid. Two is Medicaid expansion.”
HENRY KOTULA 