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Category Archives: Medicaid
Exchange Plans Could Undermine ER Safety Net
Most everyone assumes that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) facilitated Exchange Plans, by increasing the number of insured patients and reducing the rolls of the uninsured, will generate additional revenues for hospital Emergency Departments and emergency physicians. However, the net effect of these Exchanges and other aspects of the ACA could spell disaster for many emergency care safety net providers. On the surface, it appears the PPACA should have a positive impact … Continue reading
Obamacare May Hurt Emergency Physicians Financially
Many emergency physicians have expressed support for the provisions in Obamacare that expand Medicaid coverage; though they usually acknowledge that coverage does not necessarily mean access to care. Certainly, moral considerations account for much of this support, but in addition, emergency physicians tend to believe that providing Medicaid coverage to many of the currently uninsured will benefit them as well, by reducing the financial burden that comes with providing care to everyone, including many patients … Continue reading
Inappropriate Use of the ER: Solutions that Make Sense
The perception that many people, in particular uninsured and Medicaid patients, use the ER inappropriately, is one reason why CMS proposed new rules to allow states to increase Medicaid cost-sharing for ER services. Of course, there is some truth to the assertion that a certain percentage of ER patients could, or should, get their care in a clinic, urgent care center, or primary care provider’s office. In many of these cases (though definitely not all), … Continue reading
Analysis of Proposed New CMS Rules on Medicaid Cost-sharing for ER Care
CMS just published some newly proposed rules that enable States to impose increased cost sharing on Medicaid patients for non-emergency care in the ER. These rules open the door even wider for these States to abuse ER providers and hospitals, and discourage Medicaid patients from seeking needed care. Sadly, CMS did not even bother to consult with the American College of Emergency Physicians before drafting these rules, which makes it a lot more difficult to … Continue reading
The Fickle Finger’s Predictions for 2013
The folks at Perspectives on the Acute Care Continuum asked me to take a stab at some predictions for “things that will matter” in 2013. That’s a bit like asking someone to stroll out on to the center of an iced-over lake to see if the ice is thick enough to support their weight, but I am game considering that it is unlikely anyone will bother looking back at these predictions come the end of … Continue reading
Posted in Bending the Cost Curve, Health Care Reform, Medicaid, Medicare, Peering into the Future
Tagged Congress, ED practice, Emergency Care, emergency medicine, fiscal cliff, government spending reductions, Health Care Reform, health care savings, Managed Care, Obamacare, politics of health care
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