Contemporaneous and long-term effects of children's public health insurance expansions on Supplemental Security Income participation.

This study explores the interplay between two important public programs for vulnerable children: Medicaid and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Children's public health insurance eligibility increased dramatically during the late 1990s with the launch of the Children's Health Insurance Program along with concurrent Medicaid expansions. We use a measure of simulated eligibility as an exogenous source of variation in Medicaid generosity to identify the effects of the eligibility expansions on SSI outcomes. Though increases in eligibility for public health insurance did not affect contemporaneous youth SSI applications or awards on average, expansions in coverage significantly decreased both applications and awards in states where SSI recipients did not automatically receive Medicaid. We attribute the difference in findings to the higher transactions costs associated with entering Medicaid via SSI in such states. In the long-term, increased public insurance eligibility during childhood reduces young adult SSI applications to some extent, consistent with recent findings that Medicaid coverage in youth improves adult health and economic outcomes.

EHR quality indicator tracking: A process improvement pilot project to meet MACRA requirements.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services created the Quality Payment Program to award compensation to providers for offering evidence-based, high-value, and efficient care. This article outlines an information technology process improvement pilot project undertaken at a large primary care practice in western Florida to support readiness for Medicare Access and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2015 using new EHR quality indicator tracking features.

Impact of Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act on Costs and Utilization in Alabama's Children's Health Insurance Program.

OBJECTIVE: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) of 2008 mandates equivalent insurance coverage for mental health (MH) and substance use disorders (SUD) to other medical and surgical services covered by group insurance plans, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP). We explored the impact of MHPAEA on enrollees in ALL Kids, the Alabama CHIP. METHODS: We use ALL Kids claims data for October 2008 to December 2014. October 2008 through September 2009 marks the period before MHPAEA implementation. We evaluated changes in MH/SUD-related utilization and program costs and changes in racial/ethnic disparities in the use of MH/SUD services for ALL Kids enrollees using 2-part models. This allowed analyses of changes from no use to any use, as well as in intensity of use. RESULTS: No significant effect was found on overall MH service-use. There were statistically significant increases in inpatient visits and length of stay and some increase in overall MH costs. These increases may not be clinically important and were concentrated in 2009 to 2011. Disparities in utilization between African-American and non-Hispanic white enrollees were somewhat exacerbated, whereas disparities between other minorities and non-Hispanic whites were reduced. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that MHPAEA led to a 14.3% increase in inpatient visits, a 12.5% increase in length of inpatient stay, and a 7.8% increase in MH costs. The increases appear limited to 2009 to 2011, suggesting existing pent-up "needs" among enrollees for added MH/SUD services that resulted in a temporary spike in service use and cost immediately after MHPAEA, which subsequently subsided.

Addressing Children's Mental Health.

(1) Untreated mental disorders and mental illness in children can lead to costly outcomes such as school dropout, substance use and suicide. (2) Half of lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14 and 75 percent of all lifetime cases present by age 24. (3) Early intervention and access to treatment may decrease the financial and health burdens associated with mental illness.

Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Programs: Announcement of Revisions to the Provider Enrollment Moratoria Access Waiver Demonstration for Part B Non-Emergency Ground Ambulance Suppliers and Home Health Agencies in Moratoria-Designated Geographic Locations. Revisions of the waiver demonstration.

This document announces revisions to the Provider Enrollment Moratoria Access Waiver Demonstration (PEWD) for Part B Non-Emergency Ground Ambulance Suppliers and Home Health Agencies. The demonstration was implemented in accordance with section 402(a)(1)(J) of the Social Security Amendments of 1967 and, as revised, gives CMS the authority to grant waivers to the statewide enrollment moratoria on a case-by-case basis in response to access to care issues and previously denied enrollment applications because of statewide moratoria implementation, and to subject providers and suppliers enrolling via such waivers to heightened screening, oversight, and investigations.

Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Programs: Announcement of the Extension of Temporary Moratoria on Enrollment of Part B Non-Emergency Ground Ambulance Suppliers and Home Health Agencies in Designated Geographic Locations. Extension of temporary moratoria.

This document announces the extension of statewide temporary moratoria on the enrollment of new Medicare Part B non-emergency ground ambulance providers and suppliers and Medicare home health agencies and branch locations in Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, as applicable, to prevent and combat fraud, waste, and abuse. This extension also applies to the enrollment of new non- emergency ground ambulance suppliers and home health agencies and branch locations in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program in those states.

Maximize Reimbursement and Minimize Risk Under the Medicare Access and Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and the Quality Payment Program (QPP).

The Congress recently passed legislation to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate Formula and replace it with the Medicare Access and Children Health Plan Reauthorization Act's Quality Payment Program. The Quality Payment Program is designed to move physician payment from a volume-based to a value-based methodology. There are two pathways of payment that diverge and are differentiated by managing risks or managing rewards. The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) is a competitive payment system that is budget neutral and results in defined winners and losers with potential losses/gains in payments from 4% in 2019 to 9% in 2022. Characteristically, this is not dissimilar to the Sustainable Growth Rate Formula of days past but with quality measures applied. The second pathway is that toward Alternative Payment Models (APMs) that allow clinicians to participate in payment models that that provide rewards for higher-quality, lower-cost care with entry bonuses as high as 5%. The Virginia Cardiac Services Quality Initiative, a well-known regional quality collaborative, was awarded a federal grant as a Support and Alignment Network 2.0 in September 2016. As an awardee, the Virginia Cardiac Services Quality Initiative is offering, free of charge, educational support to clinicians to understand the Medicare Access and Children Health Plan Reauthorization Act, MIPS, and APMs. These support services will include on-site education, continual evaluation, and guided transformation of practices to move from MIPS, a very competitive and possibly very difficult system for Society of Thoracic Surgeons members, toward Advanced APMs, where they can self-direct their measurement and rewards, allowing success financially under the Medicare Access and Children Health Plan Reauthorization Act.

Despite Boosting Children's Coverage Rates To Historic Levels, Medicaid And CHIP Face An Uncertain Future.

The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which was enacted twenty years ago, covers uninsured children who do not qualify for Medicaid but lack access to affordable coverage. Together these safety-net programs have boosted the health insurance coverage rate among US children to historic levels, exceeding 95 percent of children in 2015. However, the future of both CHIP and Medicaid is uncertain. In the current congressional debate over the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid has become a target for potential funding reductions and other changes that would undermine the scope of children's coverage. Congress has yet to act to extend CHIP funding beyond September 30, 2017, when the current appropriation expires. State and federal policy makers should act now to preserve the foundation of coverage currently in place while striving to ensure that every child in the United States has health coverage.

Medicaid/CHIP Program; Medicaid Program and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP); Changes to the Medicaid Eligibility Quality Control and Payment Error Rate Measurement Programs in Response to the Affordable Care Act. Final rule.

This final rule updates the Medicaid Eligibility Quality Control (MEQC) and Payment Error Rate Measurement (PERM) programs based on the changes to Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This rule also implements various other improvements to the PERM program.

A Day on the Hill.

This article describes the author's advocacy experience at a press briefing on Capitol Hill. At stake is the continuation of Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program-funded health insurance to our most vulnerable children-those living in poverty and those with chronic health conditions. Current legislation proposes to impose block grants or per capita caps on federal funding for Medicaid and will put the reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program at risk. Schools stand to lose over 4 billion dollars in reimbursement for services that students need to succeed in school.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act: Implications for Nephrology.

In response to rising Medicare costs, Congress passed the Medicare Access and Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act in 2015. The law fundamentally changes the way that health care providers are reimbursed by implementing a pay for performance system that rewards providers for high-value health care. As of the beginning of 2017, providers will be evaluated on quality and in later years, cost as well. High-quality, cost-efficient providers will receive bonuses in reimbursement, and low-quality, expensive providers will be penalized financially. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will evaluate provider costs through episodes of care, which are currently in development, and alternative payment models. Although dialysis-specific alternative payment models have already been implemented, current models do not address the transition of patients from CKD to ESRD, a particularly vulnerable time for patients. Nephrology providers have an opportunity to develop cost-efficient ways to care for patients during these transitions. Efforts like these, if successful, will help ensure that Medicare remains solvent in coming years.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015: What's New?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its Final Rule on the Medicare Access and CHIP [Children's Health Insurance Program] Reauthorization Act (MACRA) in November 2016. The Rule finalizes the details of the merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) and the alternative payment model (APM), which will now collectively be referred to as the Quality Payment Program (QPP). This article offers the orthopaedic community a summary of the alterations in healthcare policy that will affect practices nationwide.

The Medicare Access And CHIP Reauthorization Act: Effects On Medicare Payment Policy And Spending.

In 2015, Congress repealed the Sustainable Growth Rate formula for Medicare physician payment, eliminating mandatory payment cuts when spending exceeded what was budgeted. In its place, Congress enacted the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which established a two-track performance-based payment system that encourages physicians to participate in alternative payment models. MACRA could have huge effects on health care delivery, but the nature of those effects is highly uncertain. Using the RAND Corporation's Health Care Payment and Delivery Simulation Model, we estimated the effects of MACRA on Medicare spending and utilization and examined how effects would differ under various scenarios. We estimate that MACRA will decrease Medicare spending on physician services by -$35 to -$106 billion (-2.3 percent to -7.1 percent) and change spending on hospital services by $32 to -$250 billion (0.7 percent to -5.1 percent) in 2015-30. The spending effects are critically dependent on the strength of incentives in the alternative payment models, particularly the incentives for physicians to reduce hospital spending and physician responses to MACRA payment rates.

The Evolving Health Policy Landscape and Suggested Geriatric Tenets to Guide Future Responses.

We cannot view the future of healthcare but we can sense that big changes are afoot. Many revolve around the plans to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act. We speculate on some potential areas of change in the context of a set of tenets about what care for older persons should address.