UPDATED: It’s out! The much anticipated guidance, entitled the “Healthy Adult Opportunity” (HAO), from CMS introducing ways to revamp Medicaid financing has been out for nearly a week and we have had some time to review the guidance in more detail. We’ve update our questions below with answers based on our review of the guidance document.
As previously reported here on the blog,… More
Despite all of the drama surrounding the 2018 midterm elections, one thing was clear: Medicaid had a big night on November 6, 2018.
In particular, the electorate in the Red states of Nebraska, Idaho, and Utah voted to expand Medicaid (i.e. extend Medicaid coverage to low-income able-bodied adults). Although the Montana electorate rejected a ballot measure that would have permanently funded the Medicaid expansion in that state beyond 2019,… More
Good morning from snowy Baltimore! Myself, along with my colleagues Tom Barker, Sean Ahern, and Erik Schulwolf are excited to be here here at AHLA’s Institute on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issuers. Over the next few days we plan on blogging about our insight, key sessions, and other fun tidbits and developments as we take in all of the great information at this annual gathering of the health bar.… More
An appeal recently filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit could give further clarity regarding the CMS’s ability to discount Medicaid DSH payments for hospitals that received funds from Medicare and private insurers.
DSH Uncompensated Care Costs and the FAQ Policies
The Medicaid Act requires state Medicaid programs to increase payments to hospitals that treat a disproportionate share of Medicaid and uninsured patients. … More
Since the beginning of this year’s legislative session, Governor Baker has expressed concern over the growth in enrollment in MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program. A look at the numbers explains why. Prior to the enactment of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion in 2014, there were 1.3 million people enrolled in MassHealth. By April of this year, that number had increased by 28.4%, to nearly 1.7 million state residents.… More
On March 22, 2017, the Massachusetts Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) sent a letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma taking her and HHS Secretary Tom Price up on their offer to grant states more flexibility under the Medicaid program. In her letter, Secretary Sudders pointed to four aspects of the Medicaid program from which Massachusetts would like “immediate relief” and greater flexibility:
The last several weeks have been nothing short of enthralling, like an episode of House of Cards. After seven years of campaigning on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Republicans were ultimately unable to create consensus for their highly anticipated repeal-and-replace legislation known as the American Health Care Act (AHCA). But as the drama on the Hill comes to an end (at least until tax reform is picked up),… More
It’s official—the 115th Congress has set its sights on overhauling the Medicaid program. We predicted as much (here and here) shortly after the November 2016 presidential elections, but now we have some insight into exactly what those proposed changes to Medicaid will be.
On March 6, 2017, the House Energy & Commerce Committee (E&C) and Ways & Means Committee (W&M) officially released draft legislation,… More
On January 30, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order (“EO”) that has generated considerable confusion in the administrative law space, and has produced at least one lawsuit thus far. The EO requires that for every new regulation issued by an executive agency, two regulations must be identified for elimination (“repeal”). This requirement is coupled with another provision that imposes an immediate cap on net costs imposed by new regulations (“offsets”). … More
One of the most pressing issues before the 115th Congress and newly inaugurated President Trump will be to determine how the Medicaid expansion population will fit into a broader reform package for the Medicaid program as a whole. Many state governors in expansion states have expressed concern that the long-standing Republican proposal of block-granting Medicaid will leave them exposed to unsustainable financial pressures.
President Trump’s nominee for HHS Secretary,… More
Introduction
Over the course of the last several blog posts, we’ve discussed how the Medicaid program could potentially be transformed under the incoming Trump Administration. We also described the central role that state-led demonstration waivers would play in defining the parameters of this transformation. Now, the association for State Medicaid directors is weighing in on precisely this issue. The National Association of State Medicaid Directors (NAMD)recently published a document laying out the group’s priorities for the Medicaid program in the first 100 days of the incoming Trump Administration. … More
Currently, nearly 10 million Americans are dually-eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. These “dual eligibles” are low-income seniors and individuals with disabilities who are separately eligible for and receive coverage under both the Medicare and Medicaid programs. In general, Medicare acts as the primary payer for dual-eligibles, while Medicaid provides “wrap-around” coverage for these individuals, helping with some out-of-pocket costs (such as premiums, copayments and deductibles) and offering coverage for services not otherwise covered by Medicare (vision,… More
As we noted here last month, Medicaid is a 1960s-era health insurance plan operating in a 21st century world. As Medicare and commercial payers have started taking steps to move away from payment by volume to paying for value, it’s important to recognize that the same innovation needs to occur in Medicaid. In fact, one could argue that this innovation is even more critical in Medicaid.
Why? … More
Introduction
The nomination of Seema Verma by President-Elect Trump for the position of CMS Administrator sends a clear signal that the Trump Administration considers Medicaid one of its top healthcare reform priorities. Seema Verma is the the “architect” of the Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0” waiver (HIP 2.0), a consumer-driven Medicaid expansion demonstration approved by the Obama Administration under a Section 1115 waiver. Most recently, Verma was also involved in designing Kentucky’s proposed “Kentucky HEALTH” (“HEALTH”) Section 1115 waiver,… More
Last week, we wrote about the importance of the Medicaid program, especially given its size as, by far, the largest health insurance plan in the United States. We noted that Medicaid covers 71 million people (this number increased dramatically after the Affordable Care Act was enacted in 2010). We said that “Medicaid is important for all of us” – whether you are a program beneficiary, a taxpayer who helps pay for it,… More
Dear readers: this post is going to be a bit different from our regular posts, in that we are going to try to refrain from getting too far in the weeds, and avoid too much legalese. Why? Because the results of the November election will likely have major implications not only for the Medicaid program itself, but for the millions of individuals it serves. We are fortunate to have a platform here and it is our hope that,… More
On November 4, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) sent word to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS, referred to here as “MassHealth”) that it approved a major amendment to Massachusetts’ section 1115 demonstration project through June 30, 2017. At the same time, CMS also approved an extension of this same demonstration through June 30, 2022. Approval of Massachusetts’ waiver amendment comes after nearly a year of negotiations and may ultimately result in the transition of the vast majority of MassHealth enrollees into newly-formed Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) operating under one three models,… More
To completely ignore the Supreme Court’s oral arguments last week in King v. Burwell would be a disservice to you, our readers. Even though this is a Medicaid blog, in a post-ACA world is it increasingly difficult to separate out the individual pieces of our insurance system. The ACA (at least in how it was designed) was intended to create a continuum of coverage: Medicaid for the lowest income Americans,… More
The big news out of Ohio today is the announcement by the State Medicaid Director John McCarthy that, at the end of week, 61,000 Ohioans are set to lose their Medicaid coverage for failure to verify household income. According to McCarthy, the federal government requires states to verify income each year to ensure that Medicaid recipients still qualify for coverage.
So what do the Federal rules and regulations say about Medicaid income verification?… More
Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at the Pharmaceutical Strategic Patient Access and Support Conference in Charlotte about how access and patient support executives should position their programs for individuals otherwise Medicaid-eligible living in non-expansion states. Here is the presentation, for your enjoyment.
Note: for a fairly up-to-date analysis of where states stand on the Medicaid expansion, check out this nice break down by the Advisory Board.
As we previously discussed, the agreement between Indiana and CMS last week to expand Medicaid in that state has big implications for the Medicaid program. First, Indiana’s agreement with CMS has seemed to trigger a handful of other Red States that now appear ready to rethink agreements with CMS. … More
Sometimes news is so interesting you need a night to ponder on it. Yesterday’s announcement that Indiana reached an agreement with CMS to expand its Medicaid program to the ACA-levels (138% of the Federal Poverty Level) was a big surprise and carries with it some very real, long-term implications. The Indiana model creates two new Medicaid pools: Health Indiana Plan (HIP) Basic and HIP Plus. HIP basic will be made only available to individuals making less than the federal poverty level and includes coverage of all essential health benefits,… More
[Updated at 1:12 p.m.]
Hello dear readers. For those of you just joining us, this is a very new blog and we are still exploring different content options. Today we are going to try out a new feature, “What’s New in Medicaid Today.” We can’t promise yet that you will see this daily, but if you do find it helpful, comment, and you may just convince us to make this a regular routine.… More
The Affordable Care Act extends and simplifies Medicaid eligibility beginning January 1, 2014, by replacing Medicaid’s previous multiple categorical groupings and limitations with one simplified overarching rule: all individuals aged <65 years with incomes less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level ($15,415 for an individual or $26,344 for a family of 3 in 2012) who meet citizenship/lawful US status and state residency requirements are entitled to Medicaid benefits.… More