Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, there has been consistent federal guidance employing and clarifying its provisions. Hilltop develops regulation summaries to assist state and local policymakers in their implementation of health reform.
On February 24, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule on the Ninety-Day Waiting Period Limitation and Technical Amendments to Certain Health Coverage Requirements under the Affordable Care Act. This document provides a high-level summary of this rule and highlights key changes to the regulation since the issuance of the proposed rule.
Hilltop Hospital Community Benefit Program Policy Analyst Gayle D. Nelson, JD, MPH, gave a presentation at a National Association of Counties (NaCo) webinar titled “Using the Community Health Needs Assessment to Inform Policymaking” on May 30, 2013. In her presentation, Nelson provided a legal context for community health needs assessment (CHNA); described CHNA’s role in community health improvement; and discussed CHNA requirements and processes for nonprofit hospitals.
With the establishment of the Exchange in Maryland law in 2012, the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that supported Hilltop’s work on health care reform between the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) and Hilltop transitioned to one between the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange (MHBE) and Hilltop.
This report presents the activities and accomplishments of that MOU, covering January 1, 2012, through January 31, 2013.
Policy Analyst Carl Mueller provided this overview of the key concepts of the Affordable Care Act, including basic information on Medicaid expansion and Exchanges, to CCBC students enrolled in a general health class.
Hilltop Hospital Community Benefit Program Director Martha H. Somerville, JD, MPH, gave a presentation at an Institute of Medicine (IOM) workshop titled Achieving Health Equity via the Affordable Care Act: Promises, Provisions, and Making Reform a Reality for Diverse Patients on April 22, 2013, in Hartford, Connecticut. In her presentation, Driving Health Equity through Public Policy: Hospital Community Benefits, Somerville discussed tax-exempt hospitals’ community benefit responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and identified how the ACA requirements can be used as levers to advance health equity.
In June 2009, IMPAQ International LLC, with its partner, The Hilltop Institute, was awarded a contract to conduct an evaluation of the Medicare Acute Care Episode (ACE) Demonstration. A three-year demonstration project funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the ACE Demonstration used a global payment for a single episode of care as an alternative approach to payment for service delivery under traditional Medicare fee-for-service (FFS).
This report presents the findings of the evaluation of a bundled payment demonstration for selected cardiovascular and orthopedic procedures, which was implemented at five sites in four states.
Hilltop Policy Analyst Aaron Tripp, MSW, gave a presentation at the 2013 Annual Conference of the American Society on Aging in Chicago on March 14, 2013. New Jersey Care Partner Support Pilot Program: Findings—which has been presented before and continues to spark interest—discussed highlights of Hilltop’s evaluation of the Pilot Program, which was designed to improve the knowledge and skills of family caregivers for beneficiaries enrolled in waiver programs following a caregiver self-assessment. Implications for health care and social service professionals to better recognize and support families as partners in care and recommendations for further expansion of caregiver assessments were addressed.
Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, there has been consistent federal guidance employing and clarifying its provisions. Hilltop develops regulation summaries to assist state and local policymakers in their implementation of health reform. On March 1, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released three sets of final rules: benefits and payment parameters for various programs, the multi-state plan program, and the risk corridor calculation and alternative methodology for calculating cost-sharing reductions. This document provides a high-level summary of these rules and highlights key changes to the regulation since the issue of the proposed rule.
The Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports in Maryland Chart Book, Volume 3, The Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver is the last in a series of three that explores service utilization and expenditures for Medicaid-funded long-term services and supports in Maryland. Volume 1 explores service utilization and expenditures for Maryland Medicaid’s Living at Home Waiver, Older Adults Waiver, and Medical Day Care Waiver, as well as Maryland State Plan personal care services and Medicaid nursing facility utilization and expenditures. Volume 2 provides information on the states’ Medicaid Autism Waiver.
This chart book provides information about Maryland Medicaid participants who received services through the Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver state in fiscal years (FYs) 2008 through 2011.
This is the sixth issue brief in a series resleased by Hilltop’s Hospital Community Benefit Program. This brief is a companion to the online tool, Community Benefit State Law Profiles, and presents the Profiles’ findings and begins the analysis—in effect, viewing state community benefit standards through the lens of the ACA—to facilitate a better understanding of each state’s community benefit landscape and its significance in the context of national health reform. The other issue briefs in the Hospital Community Benefits after the ACA series are The Emerging Federal Framework, Building on State Experience, Partnerships for Community Health Improvement, Schedule H and Hospital Community Benefit—Opportunities and Challenges for the States, and Community Building and the Root Causes of Poor Health.