A new report from the Biden Administration showed that in over 80% of payment disputes, the arbiter settled on an amount that was more than the median in-network rate for that service. Not only that, the sheer volume of disputes means the three federal agencies that run the program are devoting much more time to it than expected.
Nebraska lawmakers approved a measure intended to help critical-care access hospitals meet financial challenges posed by low Medicaid reimbursements. Among other provisions in LB1087, the state’s hospitals would pay an assessment of up to six percent of their net income into a fund that would leverage federal matching funds to enhance rates paid to hospitals under the medical assistance program.
Judge Trevor McFadden of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision holding that CMS miscalculated the Medicare reimbursement owed to five plaintiff hospitals for the costs associated with their nursing and allied health (NAH) educational programs. The plaintiffs, all hospitals with reputable NAH programs, alleged that CMS ignored its own regulation in calculating their NAH payments. The Court agreed stating, “The hospitals are right, and it is not even close.”
University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora provided $10 million in uncompensated care in just 3 months. UCHealth needs more money and support to keep responding to the surge in migrants arriving in metro Denver, the health system’s leaders are warning after University of Colorado Hospital provided $10 million in uncompensated care in just three months. UCHealth estimated its other hospitals provided about $7 million in uncompensated care to people it identified as likely migrants between November and January, on top of the $10 million provided at the University of Colorado Hospital campus in Aurora.
They called for the governor to add $6.8 billion to her state budget over the next four years to close the Medicaid funding gap. Providers and health care workers alike blamed long waits for emergency room visits, a lack of nursing home beds and long delays to see specialists on the shortfall created by forcing hospitals and nursing homes to fill the 30% gap in funding they must absorb for every Medicaid patient every day.