Investment Services

HMA Conference to Feature Insights from 40+ Speakers, Including Health Plan CEOs, State Medicaid Directors, Providers

Pre-Conference Workshop: September 8, 2019
Conference: September 9-10, 2019
Location: Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile

Health Management Associates is proud to announce its fourth annual conference on trends in publicly sponsored health care: The Next Wave of Medicaid Growth and Opportunity: How Payers, Providers, and States Are Positioning Themselves for Success.

The HMA conference has emerged as a premier informational and networking event, attracting more than 450 executives and policy experts. Speakers this year include state Medicaid directors and leaders from Medicaid managed care, hospitals, clinics, community-based organizations, and other providers.

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CMS Increases Monitoring and Evaluation Requirements for Section 1115(a) Medicaid Demonstrations

This week, our In Focus reviews the implications of the new federal guidance for state waivers with community engagement, premiums, non-eligibility periods, and other personal responsibility provisions.

Background

On March 14, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued several new guidance documents that significantly increase the level of monitoring and evaluation required for Section 1115(a) Medicaid Demonstrations. These new requirements apply to community engagement, premiums, and other waiver provisions that impact eligibility and enrollment, and affect states currently with such waivers as well as any states proposing these ideas.  Changes in reporting, data collection, and waiver monitoring processes will be necessary, and soon—as the materials details compliance dates for these significant new requirements.

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Medicaid Managed Care Enrollment Update – Q4 2018

This week, our In Focus section reviews recent Medicaid enrollment trends in capitated, risk-based managed care in 29 states.[1] Many state Medicaid agencies post monthly enrollment figures by health plan for their Medicaid managed care population to their websites. This data allows for the timeliest analysis of enrollment trends across states and managed care organizations. All 29 states highlighted in this review have released monthly Medicaid managed care enrollment data into the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2018. This report reflects the most recent data posted. HMA has made the following observations related to the enrollment data shown on Table 1 (below):

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HMA Experts Aid Delivery System Transformation Efforts

Editor’s Note: This post was authored by Managing Principal Roxane Townsend, MD, and Senior Consultant Jeannine Hinton, LCSW, MHA.

HMA recently completed efforts to help the State of Louisiana and Louisiana State University (LSU) enter into a cooperative endeavor agreement with Ochsner LSU Health System of North Louisiana, a private nonprofit corporation.

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Medicaid and Exchange Enrollment Update – September 2018

This week, our In Focus section reviews updated information issued by the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Medicaid expansion enrollment from the “September 2018 Medicaid and CHIP Application, Eligibility Determination, and Enrollment Report,” published on November 30, 2018. Additionally, we review 2018 Exchange enrollment data from the “Health Insurance Marketplaces 2018 Open Enrollment Period: Final State-Level Public Use File,” published by CMS on April 3, 2018. Combined, these reports present a picture of Medicaid and Exchange enrollment in 2018, representing 73 million Medicaid and CHIP enrollees and nearly 12 million Exchange enrollees.

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Proposed Policy Changes Affecting Health Reimbursement Arrangements

This week, our In Focus section comes to us from HMA Senior Consultant Ryan Mooney (Austin), who reviewed the proposed rule on Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs). On October 29, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and Human Services published a proposed rule (83 FR 54420), the purpose of which is to expand the use of HRAs. An HRA is an employer-supported account that helps employees pay for qualified medical expenses not covered by their health plans. The proposed rule is the latest component of the President’s Executive Order 13813, which directed the federal government to expand and facilitate access to association health plans, short-term and limited-duration insurance products, and HRAs. 

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Navigating CMS’ Proposed Medicaid Managed Care Regulations

This week’s HMA Weekly Roundup features an In Focus article from HMA Senior Consultants Amber Swartzell and Stephanie Baume (Indiana), who reviewed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed Medicaid managed care regulations. On November 8, 2018, CMS released a proposed rule that would update several sections of the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) managed care rules, which were most recently amended in 2016. This much anticipated proposal, scheduled to appear in the Federal Register on November 14, 2018, focuses on “promoting flexibility, strengthening accountability, and maintaining and enhancing program integrity.” The key provisions of the proposed regulations are summarized below.

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Highlights From This Week’s HMA Conference On The Rapidly Changing World Of Medicaid

This week, our In Focus section provides a recap of the third annual HMA Conference, The Rapidly Changing World of Medicaid: Opportunities and Pitfalls for Payers, Providers and States, held this Monday, October 1, and Tuesday, October 2, in Chicago, Illinois. More than 450 leading executives representing managed care organizations, providers, state and federal government, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders in the health care field gathered to address the opportunities and challenges facing health plans, states, and providers as they strive to provide the best possible care to Medicaid beneficiaries and other vulnerable populations at a time of significant uncertainty and change. Conference participants heard from keynote speakers, engaged in panel discussions and connected during informal networking opportunities. Below is a summary of highlights from this year’s conference.

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Dual Eligible Financial Alignment Demonstration Enrollment Update

This week, our In Focus section reviews publicly available data on enrollment in capitated financial and administrative alignment demonstrations (“Duals Demonstrations”) for beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid (duals) in nine states: California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Texas. Each of these states has begun either voluntary or passive enrollment of duals into fully integrated plans providing both Medicaid and Medicare benefits (“Medicare-Medicaid Plans,” or “MMPs”) under three-way contracts between the state, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the MMP. As of August 2018, nearly 369,000 duals were enrolled in an MMP. Enrollment dropped by 6.7 percent from August of the previous year after Virginia’s dual demonstration ended in December.

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Registration Open for HMA Conference on the Rapidly Changing World of Medicaid

HMA Conference on the Rapidly Changing World of Medicaid to Feature Insights from 30-Plus Speakers, Including Health Plan CEOs, State Medicaid Directors, Providers

Pre-Conference Workshop: Sept. 30
Conference: Oct. 1-2
Location: The Palmer House, Chicago

Health Management Associates is proud to announce its third annual conference on trends in publicly sponsored health care: The Rapidly Changing World of Medicaid: Opportunities and Pitfalls for Payers, Providers and States.

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