More states limiting Medicaid hospital stays
Advocates for the needy and hospital executives say the moves will restrict access to care, force hospitals to absorb more costs and lead to higher charges for privately insured patients.
States defend the actions as a way to balance budgets hammered by the economic downturn and the end of billions of dollars in federal stimulus funds this summer that had helped prop up Medicaid, financed jointly by states and the federal government.
STORY: Optional Medicaid benefits face state cutsArizona, which last year stopped covering certain transplants for several months, plans to limit adult Medicaid recipients to 25 days of hospital coverage a year, starting as soon as the end of October.
Hawaii plans to cut Medicaid coverage to 10 days a year in April, the fewest of any state.
Both efforts require federal approval, which state officials consider likely because several other states already restrict hospital coverage.
Private health insurers generally don't limit hospital coverage, according to America's Health Insurance Plans , a trade group.
Rosemary Blackmon, executive vice president of the Alabama Hospital Association, said "for the most part hospitals do what they can" to provide care to Medicaid patients despite the limits.
In Arizona, hospitals won't discharge or refuse to admit patients who medically need to be there, said Peter Wertheim, spokesman for the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association. "Hospitals will get stuck with the bill," he said.
Driven by higher enrollment and medical costs, Medicaid spending was projected to rise an average of 11.2% in fiscal 2011, which ended in June, from $427 billion in 2010, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers .
For fiscal 2012, the association estimated state Medicaid spending will rise 19%, largely because of the end of the federal stimulus dollars.
Independent Health Insurance Agents Arizona - News
A growing number of states are sharply limiting hospital stays under Medicaid to as few as 10 days a year to control rising costs of the health insurance program for the poor and disabled.
Woodland Hills-based Health Net won high ratings for two of its health insurance plans from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, a private nonprofit that has helped drive health care quality improvement
The Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) - Area Agency on Aging, State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) is hosting its Medicare Enrollment Event. The public is welcome to attend the session, located at the Adult Center of Prescott,
"What's interesting about that fact is that we drive our own vehicles and carry our own car insurance," Shapiro said. "It didn't even make sense." Shapiro's lawyer says the law is on her side. "The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act says that en employer
Regulatory civil action coverage: Pays in cases where the insured is facing fines from a state attorney general after a data breach, or from the federal government after a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA,) or
Health Insurance Quotes Reform Obamacare & Buying Individual ...
Federal
Although the House vote to repeal health care reform is symbolic only (given the Democratic Senate and White House), it is a necessary first step leading to committee by committee action over the coming months on discrete provisions of health care . One such item, medical malpractice liability reform, got a hearing last week before the House Judiciary Committee as Republicans paraded several witnesses before the committee to showcase the need for legislation from the physicians’ perspective. Since it is very unlikely that the American Medical Association’s wish list would ever become law, the best result from the committee process would be a bill that skirts the more controversial items (e.g., cap on damages) and focuses on attainable and meaningful reforms, such as health courts, stronger pre-trial evaluation and settlement pathways. This would be a path Aetna would strongly support.
States
ARIZONA: Governor Jan Brewer has announced that she will request a waiver from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services so that the state can set Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) eligibility below levels mandated by the PPACA. In March 2010, Governor Brewer signed a fiscal year 2011 budget that stripped funding for the state’s Children’s Health Insurance program (KidsCare) and cut $385 million from AHCCCS, effectively repealing an expansion of AHCCCS to childless adults approved by voters in 2000. However, following enactment of the PPACA, the state rescinded the scheduled cuts to comply with the law’s “maintenance of efforts” (MOE) requirement. The MOE requirement prohibits a state from having eligibility standards, methodologies, or procedures for adults that are more restrictive than those in effect on March 23, 2010, until a health insurance exchange in the state is fully operational, and for all children in Medicaid and CHIP through September 30, 2019. The MOE requirement provides an exception for non-pregnant, non-disabled adults earning more than 133 percent of the federal poverty level if a state is projected to have a budget deficit. Arizona faces a mid-year budget deficit estimated at $825 million. A $1.4 billion shortfall is projected for the 2012 fiscal year.