|
|
Trying to find a story from a past AHA NewsNow? Use the button below to search the NewsNow archives by date or key word.
|
|
CMS: RACs collected $980 million in three-year demonstration 05/14/2008
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expects to issue its final report on the Medicare recovery audit contractor demonstration in late May and announce by summer the four RACs that will run the national program, a CMS official said yesterday. Addressing a Health Affairs teleconference on RACs, Timothy Hill, director of CMS’ Office of Financial Management, said the RACs collected a total of $980 million in overpayments from health care providers during the three-year demonstration, which ran from March 2005 to March 2008. About 84% of that was collected from inpatient hospitals, and 14% from hospital outpatient departments, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and skilled nursing facilities. Many providers have filed appeals challenging the collections, with many appeals decided in favor of the provider. Don May, AHA vice president for policy, told participants that hospitals want to bill accurately the first time, but rolling out the RAC program nationally should be slowed down until transparency and oversight of the program can be improved.
|
Insurer announces changes to admissions notification policy 05/14/2008
UnitedHealthcare last week announced changes to its controversial new inpatient admissions notification policy. Under the revised policy, hospitals are still expected to notify the insurer of all inpatient admissions within 24 hours to receive full reimbursement of their contracted rates. However, United will phase in penalties for failure to meet the deadline. In addition, any facility that has or will sign an agreement by May 31 to move to the EDI 278 transaction as the means of providing notification will not face penalties for any admission until after March 31, 2009, as long as it is making good-faith implementation efforts. For weekend and holiday admissions, payment reductions for failure to notify United within 24 hours will be waived indefinitely for critical access hospitals and until Sept. 30, 2009 for all other facilities, as long as the notice is received by 5 p.m. the next business day. In addition, United has developed a new process for emergency admissions to avoid denials and appeals when a patient’s insurance information could not be obtained within the needed timeframe. In November, United said hospitals failing to provide notification within 24 hours of admission would see a reduction of 50% of the average daily payment rate for each day preceding the notification, or for the entire admission if a hospital provided notification after 72 hours or not at all. In response to hospital concerns, United revised the policy in December to allow next business day notification for weekend and federal holiday admissions through June 30.
|
HRET announces Patient Safety Leadership Fellows 05/14/2008
The Health Research & Educational Trust, the AHA’s research and education affiliate, today announced the 2008-2009 class of Patient Safety Leadership Fellows. The 38 fellows will participate in a year-long program that gives leaders of hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations the skills to shepherd change initiatives in their organizations. Now in its seventh year, the program has supported more than 180 leaders from the U.S. and around the world. The Fellowship is sponsored by HRET and the National Patient Safety Foundation, in partnership with Health Forum, the AHA, American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, American Organization of Nurse Executives, and Society of Hospital Medicine. For more on the 2008-2009 class, see the news release. For information on participating in the 2009-2010 program, contact the HRET Fellowship office at (312) 422-2625 or fellowships@aha.org.
|
Index measures equity in GLBT care 05/14/2008
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation and Gay and Lesbian Medical Association yesterday issued a report ranking 88 U.S. hospitals on their policies, practices and training to ensure equal treatment for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. The ranking is based on responses to a voluntary survey, the Healthcare Equality Index, which rates hospital respondents in five areas: patient non-discrimination, hospital visitation, decision making, cultural competency training and employment policies. “Many health care providers have been working toward GLBT-inclusive policies for years,” said HRCF President Joe Solmonese. “This report will highlight the efforts of these trailblazers and call upon everyone involved to take action in support of equality.” The HRCF said it eventually will expand the project to survey long-term care, assisted living and hospice facilities as well as community health clinics.
|
Report: Medicaid rule could cost NYC hospitals $1.18 billion 05/14/2008
Public and private non-profit hospitals that provide uncompensated care to the poor in the city of New York would lose $1.18 billion in Medicaid payments if Congress fails to extend the moratorium on a rule ending Medicaid funding for graduate medical education, according to a new report from the city’s Independent Budget Office. The IBO said eliminating GME payments would disproportionately affect the city because of its concentration of medical residencies and its use of GME funds to subsidize safety-net hospitals. It notes that hospitals in the city receive more than 40% of the nation’s Medicaid GME funding. Kenneth Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, said, "If enacted, these Medicaid regulations would cripple New York's health care delivery system and severely compromise the ability of many of our institutions to train tomorrow’s doctors.” The congressional moratorium is set to expire May 25.
|
IA governor signs law to cover all uninsured children 05/14/2008
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver yesterday signed legislation providing $25 million over three years to extend health care coverage to all uninsured children in the state. The law also ensures that young adults through the age of 25 are covered under their parents’ insurance, eliminates pre-existing condition barriers when migrating between group and individual coverage, and sets the goal of developing a statewide health information technology plan. In addition, it sets the goal of covering all uninsured residents by 2013. Kirk Norris, president and CEO of the Iowa Hospital Association, said the bill reflects “the priorities and principles that Iowa’s hospitals actively supported throughout the legislative session” and builds on “Iowa’s strengths as a proven leader in providing high-quality, low-cost care.” A separate bill signed by the governor establishes a 1% Medicaid rate increase for health care providers, with the hospital increase devoted to raising nurse salaries.
|
Foundation issues plan to cover 44 million uninsured Americans 05/13/2008
The Commonwealth Fund today unveiled a proposal to provide health coverage to 44 million uninsured Americans. The proposal would create a national health insurance “connector” open to everyone without large-employer insurance or Medicare. The connector would offer a choice of private plans as well as a Medicare option called Medicare Extra for people under 65. Employers that do not provide health coverage would be required to pay 7% of payroll into a pool to help finance coverage, and Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program would be expanded to cover all legal residents below 150% of the federal poverty level. Health insurance would be mandatory, with tax credits offered to keep premium costs under 5%-10% of income. Analysts at the Lewin Group estimate the proposal could save $1.6 trillion over 10 years if coupled with other reforms, such as health information technology, evidence-based medicine, Medicare payment changes, negotiated prescription drug prices, and public health efforts to reduce smoking and obesity.
|
Group releases health reform proposal 05/13/2008
The Healthcare Leadership Council today issued a proposal to expand access to U.S. health care and improve quality. HLC Chairman Denis Cortese, M.D., president and CEO of the Mayo Clinic, said the proposal targets health coverage for every American, better outcomes for patients and lower cost. The plan calls for “fully funding” public health insurance programs, and using Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program dollars to help workers afford employer-based coverage. It also calls for tax incentives to help individuals and low-income Americans purchase health coverage; payment reforms to encourage and reward quality care and evidence-based medicine; and financing mechanisms to help health care providers invest in information technology. The group plans to share the proposal with congressional leaders and candidates in the 2008 election.
|
Hospital execs encouraged to complete supply chain survey 05/13/2008
The Association for Healthcare Resource & Materials Management yesterday announced an online survey to gauge hospital executives’ perceptions of the importance of supply chain management within their organizations, as well as issues and trends in the industry. The survey will be distributed to hospital CEOs, chief financial officers, chief operating officers and health care supply chain leaders. The results will provide insight into the goals, priorities and performance of supply chain management so executives can optimize their organizations’ supply chains. Respondents who complete the survey by May 24 will be eligible to receive a copy of the executive summary highlighting the survey results. “In order to provide solid data for process improvements, AHRMM encourages all hospital executives and supply chain leaders to participate in this initiative,” said AHRMM Executive Director Debbie Sprindzunas. AHRMM is an AHA personal membership group.
|
CMS approves SCHIP expansion for Indiana 05/13/2008
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has approved an Indiana plan to expand its State Children's Health Insurance Program to children in families earning up to 250% of the federal poverty level. That’s about $53,000 for a family of four. The state expects the plan to cover about 10,000 more children, officials said Friday. Allison Wharry, vice president of government relations for the Indiana Hospital Association, said, “This is more good news for Indiana and the Healthy Indiana Plan. In the long run, we hope to see the expansion of health coverage for well over a hundred thousand Hoosiers.”
|
|
|
|
![]()
![]()
|
|
|
