Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Research Roundup: CHIP, Medicaid And High-Needs Patients
The Commonwealth Fund: Integrating Health Social Services High-Need Patients
We categorized cross-sector community partnerships in four dimensions. We also identified five common challenges: inadequate strategies to sustain cost-savings, improvement, and funding; lack of accurate and timely measurement of return on investment; lack of mechanisms to share potential savings between health care and social services providers; lack of expertise to integrate multiple data sources during health care or social services provision; and lack of a cross-sector workflow evidence base. (Amarasingham, Xie, Karam et al, 1/5)
Urban Institute: When The CHIPs Are Down — Health Coverage And Care At Risk For U.S. Children
Despite bipartisan agreement on a 5-year plan in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Congress failed to reauthorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 2017, causing uncertainty and worry for families and state CHIP directors alike. There is a strong rationale for Congress to immediately reauthorize CHIP for five years or even longer given the strong evidence base that finds positive short- and long-term impacts associated with expansions of public health insurance coverage for children and given low federal costs that would be required. (Dubay and Kenney, 1/10)
Urban Institute: Guidance On Medicaid Work And Community Engagement Requirements Raises Many Important Questions
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance on Jan. 11, 2018, allowing states to require Medicaid beneficiaries to engage in “work or other community engagement” activities to maintain their coverage. This is a dramatic departure from Medicaid policy over the past 50 years. Given that CMS is approving work and community engagement requirements through waivers designed to test new provisions in Medicaid, we propose important questions for careful consideration by states and CMS. Since most Medicaid enrollees are already working or would likely be exempt from the new requirements, it will be important to consider the full costs and benefits of the policy change. (Hahn, Kenney, Allen et al, 1/12)
JAMA Internal Medicine: Association Of Hospital Global Budgets With Changes In Health Care Use
In 2014, the State of Maryland placed the majority of its hospitals under all-payer global budgets for inpatient, hospital outpatient, and emergency department care. Goals of the program included reducing unnecessary hospital utilization and encouraging greater use of primary care. ...We did not find consistent evidence that Maryland’s hospital global budget program was associated with reductions in hospital use or increases in primary care visits among fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries after 2 years. Evaluations over longer periods should be pursued. (Roberts, McWilliams, Hatfield et al, 1/16)
