MHA Today is provided as a service to members of the Missouri Hospital Association. Additional information is available online at MHAnet. In This Issue CMS Approves Kentucky Medicaid Work Requirement MO HealthNet Seeks Comments On Reduction In Outpatient Lab Reimbursement CMS Updates Conditions Of Participation For Hospitals CDC Launches New Patient And Provider Sepsis Resources
Advocate state and federal health policy developments
Staff Contact: Brian Kinkade The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved a Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waiver that would allow the state of Kentucky to impose a “community engagement” requirement on adults who are not disabled, not pregnant and who are not the primary caretaker of a dependent. Nonexempt beneficiaries will be required to complete 80 hours per month of community engagement activities, such as employment, education, job skills training and community service to maintain their Medicaid eligibility. This marks the first time CMS has given approval for a state to place work conditions on Medicaid eligibility; litigation is anticipated. The Kentucky waiver also includes six-month lockout penalties for participants who fail to pay a modest premium, who do not report changes in income or life circumstances, and who do not complete their annual reapplication paperwork on time. Back To Top
Staff Contact: Brian Kinkade MO HealthNet requests comments regarding the effect on service access of its plan to set reimbursement for outpatient lab services at 80 percent of the Medicare fee schedule. Comments are due Sunday, Feb.11. This change is projected to reduce reimbursement to hospitals by approximately $10 million per year before considering the reduction in the Medicare fee schedule that took effect Jan. 1. MHA will file comments expressing concern on behalf of its members. Back To Top
Regulatory News the latest actions of agencies monitoring health care
Staff Contact: Sarah Willson The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have made several revisions to the hospital Conditions of Participation Appendix A. The most notable changes are to tags A-0144 and A-0701 regarding ligature risk and safe environments, as well as new information regarding power strips in A-0701. In addition, most emergency preparedness references in A-0701 have been deleted and are now included in separate CoPs. Several survey and certification memos have been released addressing additions and changes, including 17-44-ALL-Hospitals and how they are defined, 18-06-Hospitals noting changes under A-0701, deleting references to emergency preparedness and clarifying ligature risk policy. Back To Top
Staff Contact: Sarah Willson The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched additional resources for patients and providers on its Get Ahead of Sepsis campaign website. The website includes free brochures, posters and other helpful tools to raise sepsis awareness. In the Missouri legislature, SB 723 has been introduced to require hospitals to develop sepsis protocols. Mental health hospitals are excluded from the proposal. MHA encourages hospitals to have sepsis protocols in place and for staff to be training on early recognition and intervention. Back To Top
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the 2015-2016 flu season, the flu vaccine prevented more than five million flu cases, about 2.5 million medical visits, more than 70,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. Source: The New York Times