Health Policy Commons^™

Promoting The Integration And Coordination Of Safety-Net Health Care Providers Under Health Reform: Key Issues, Leighton C. Ku, Peter Shin, Marsha Regenstein, Holly Mead

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

The Affordable Care Act includes several provisions designed to encourage greater coordination and integration among health care providers, including the promotion of accountable care organizations and health homes. While much discussion has focused on how these strategies might be adopted by Medicare and private insurers, little attention has focused on their application among safety-net health care providers. Such providers face particular challenges in coordinating care for their low-income and uninsured patients, and no single approach is likely to meet their diverse needs. Successful efforts will require federal, state, and local financial resources to sustain the safety net and make the …

Presentation Of The 2011-2012 Geiger Gibson Distinguished Visitor In Community Health Policy, Rachel A. Gonzales-Hanson

Health Policy and Management Faculty Posters and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Community Health Centers And The Economy: Assessing Centers' Role In Immediate Job Creation Efforts, Sara J. Rosenbaum, Peter Shin

Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative

Federal investment in community health centers not only creates health care access but, based on previous studies, generates an estimated 8:1 return for medically underserved communities while creating thousands of jobs. Since our earlier 2008 economic impact study, Congress has made two major program investments: $2 billion under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009; and $11 billion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This analysis measures the economic and jobs-creation benefits of this cumulative investment in health centers, as well as the impact of legislation enacted in April, 2011, which reduced the first year of new …

Safety Net Providers After Health Reform: Lessons From Massachusetts, Leighton C. Ku

Health Policy and Management Faculty Posters and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Medicare's Accountable Care Organization Regulations: How Will Medicare Beneficiaries Who Reside In Medically Underserved Communities Fare?, Sara J. Rosenbaum, Peter Shin

Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative

On March 31, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released proposed regulations implementing the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). The thrust of the MSSP is to promote savings to Medicare as well as the greater clinical integration of health care through incentive payments to accountable care organizations (ACOs) that meet Medicare standards for structure, performance, and health care outcomes. The effort to spur greater clinical integration through the MSSP was part of a broader set of reforms contained in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) whose aim was to improve health care quality and efficiency. Among these reforms …

Why The Grey's Anatomy Myth Clouds The Real Value Of Emergency Care, Jesse M. Pines, Zachary F. Meisel

Health Policy and Management Informal Communications

Advanced radiology tests such as CT scans, MRIs and ultrasounds have dramatically changed how patients are diagnosed and treated. Just a decade ago, patients were still being subjected to exploratory surgery, in which a surgeon cuts open the abdomen to look for problems; today, CT scans allow doctors to make diagnoses without a scalpel.

The Health Care Access And Cost Consequences Of Reducing Health Center Funding, Peter Shin, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative

For over four decades, community health centers have served a critical role in providing affordable access to quality care to some of the nation's most vulnerable populations. Health centers have historically enjoyed broad bipartisan support, based on the evidence documenting their high quality care, crucial role in both urban and rural communities, and ability to "bend the cost curve."

On February 20, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to reduce discretionary health center funding by $1.3 billion in FY 2011 alone. Although the spending bill was rejected by the U.S. Senate on March 10, 2011, final spending measures for …

Who Are The Health Center Patients Who Risk Losing Care Under The House Of Representatives' Proposed Fy 2011 Spending Reductions?, Sara J. Rosenbaum, Peter Shin, Leighton C. Ku

Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative

On February 20, 2011, the United States House of Representatives approved more than $61 billion in discretionary spending reductions for the remainder of FY 2011. The legislation includes $1.3 billion in direct spending cuts for community health centers. Using the NACHC patient estimates, we present evidence on the characteristics of patients whose continuing access to health center services is at risk. We arrived at these estimates using data from the Uniform Data System (UDS), the federal reporting system in which all health centers must participate, as well as national estimates from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), and published reports …

Issues In Health Reform: How Changes In Eligibility May Move Millions Back And Forth Between Medicaid And Insurance Exchanges, Benjamin D. Sommers, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

The Affordable Care Act will extend health insurance coverage by both expanding Medicaid eligibility and offering premium subsidies for the purchase of private health insurance through state health insurance exchanges. But by definition, eligibility for these programs is sensitive to income and can change over time with fluctuating income and changes in family composition. The law specifies no minimum enrollment period, and subsidy levels will also change as income rises and falls. Using national survey data, we estimate that within six months, more than 35 percent of all adults with family incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level …