SVC, founded by CMS Administrator Seema Verma, is now part of Health Management Associates (HMA). The acquisition, announced March 13 by HMA founder Jay Rosen, was finalized late Friday, March 31. SVC now becomes HMA Medicaid Market Solutions (HMA MMS), a subsidiary of HMA.
Government Programs & The Uninsured
Puerto Rico Health Care Update
This week, HMA Principal Juan Montanez, of our Washington, D.C. office, provides an update on the fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico, the relationship between the fiscal crisis and Puerto Rico’s Government Health Plan (GHP), as well as what may lie ahead for the GHP. Puerto Rico has been in the news over the last couple of years, primarily because of the central government’s inability to meet its debt obligations. In 2015 the central government’s finances reached a point where it could have literally run out of cash to service its debt and fund regular operations. A significant contributor to this fiscal crisis is the cost of and associated funding for the GHP, known colloquially on the island as Mi Salud (“My Health”). This article provides some history and context on the GHP, in addition to outlining current proposals for addressing the program’s impending funding “cliff.”
Celebrating Doctors’ Day at HMA
March 30th is Doctors’ Day, and for most physicians that means a special lunch in the hospital cafeteria or a carnation on their white coat. But a few years ago, I hung up my white coat and made the transition to healthcare consulting. The questions immediately started. Won’t you miss seeing patients? What exactly will you do? Did you lose your license? That last one is my favorite. So what exactly is a doctor like me doing in a place like this?
Loneliness is Lethal: Five Strategies to Improve Health Outcomes by Improving Social Connectedness
This blog post was authored by HMA clinicians Margaret Kirkegaard, MD, MPH, and Jeffrey Ring, PhD
While most people would agree that social relationships improve day-to-day quality of life, do social connections actually provide a health benefit? The answer is a resounding yes!
In 1921, a remarkable study began tracking the lives of 1,500 Americans from childhood to death. It sought to track what factors in life — such as faith, marriage, pets and exercise — increased longevity. The most significant finding was that strong social networks mattered the most. The quality of social connections was more significant than the quantity.[1] In an interview with National Public Radio, lead researcher Howard Friedman notes, “We saw that over and above the number of connections and the frequency of interactions that when those connections involved helping other people, reaching out, being actively engaged to do things for others, that was an added bonus on top of what we already see as quite beneficial from the social contacts themselves.”[2]
Save the Date for HMA’s 2017 Conference on Trends in Publicly Sponsored Healthcare
The Future of Medicaid is Here: Implications for Payers, Providers and States
Sept. 11-12, 2017
Chicago, IL
Health Management Associates (HMA) is proud to announce its 2nd conference on Trends in Publicly Sponsored Healthcare, Sept. 11-12, 2017, in Chicago. The theme of this year’s event is The Future of Medicaid is Here: Implications for Payers, Providers and States and features as keynote speakers some of the nation’s most innovative healthcare leaders.
HHS Selects Eight States to Participate in CCBHC Demonstration
This week’s article comes to from HMA Principals Meggan Schilkie, Joshua Rubin, and Heidi Arthur in our New York City office and the HMA national behavioral health team. On December 21, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the selection of eight states for participation in a two-year Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) demonstration program “designed to improve behavioral health services in their communities.” The eight states are Minnesota, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. The demonstration projects are slated to begin on July 1, 2017. They build on a total of 24 state planning grants issued by HHS in 2015 to support states in designing their certification process. Nineteen of the 24 states submitted applications to participate in the demonstration program, and the eight awardees were selected from this pool of 19 applicants.
Oklahoma Releases Soonerhealth+ RFP
This week, we reviewed the Oklahoma Health Care Authority’s (OHCA’s) request for proposals (RFP) for a new statewide Medicaid managed care program for individuals who are aged and individuals with disabilities (ABD). The program, called SoonerHealth+, will provide managed acute care, behavioral health, and managed long-term services and supports (MLTSS) to roughly 155,000 members, to be phased in over two years beginning in April 2018. Based on state fiscal year 2014 data, SoonerHealth+ spending per year could exceed $2.5 billion when fully implemented. Proposals are due on February 28, 2017.
Revisiting Congressman Tom Price’s ACA Repeal Legislation
This week, we revisited 2015 legislation introduced by Georgia Congressman Tom Price, who was announced this week as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). Representative Price’s 2015 bill, H.R. 2300, known as the “Empowering Patients First Act,” included a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as well as all health care provisions in the related Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act passed in 2010. A version of the Empowering Patients First Act has been introduced in Congress every year since 2009. Below, we review Representative Price’s proposed replacement plans around insurance coverage, and provide brief summaries of some of the other provisions in the legislation.
Washington 1115 Demonstration Waiver Approved by CMS
This week, we reviewed the agreement-in-principle between the State of Washington Health Care Authority (HCA) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on a new section 1115 demonstration waiver, which will further the state’s Healthier Washington initiative across three major dimensions. The agreement will provide up to $1.5 billion in federal funding for delivery system reform incentives, expanded options for long-term services and supports, and supportive housing and employment. HCA and CMS hope to finalize the special terms and conditions of the waiver in the coming months.
HMA Behavioral Health Expertise on Display at Conferences
Our diverse, interdisciplinary behavioral health team has extensive clinical, policy, operations and funding expertise in mental health and substance use disorder prevention and treatment. Recently members of our behavioral health team shared their expertise at two notable conferences.