This week, HHS began a series of regional meetings to discuss insurance exchanges with states reluctant to implement them, the deputy administrator and director of the CMS Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services said that states could accept ACA’s Medicaid expansion initially and opt out later, and Republican lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee requested that the GAO investigate reform implementation spending.
AT THE AGENCIES
HHS scheduled four regional meeting this month to discuss insurance exchanges and other aspects of the Affordable Care Act with state officials reluctant to implement the exchanges. The meetings began on Tuesday (8/14) in Washington DC and will continue through August 22 in Atlanta, Chicago and Denver.
Three groups of medical practices were added to the Medicare pilot program, which began in December and was authorized by the Affordable Care Act to test methods for reducing unnecessary hospitalizations for Medicare beneficiaries. The new consortia members are Virginia Commonwealth University Health System/Medical College of Virginia Hospitals and Physicians in Richmond, Virginia; Innovative Primary Senior Care in Skokie Illinois; and Treasure Coast Healthcare in Stuart Florida. The three join the sixteen practices that were already part of the program.
Cindy Mann, the CMS deputy administrator and director of the CMS Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, spoke at the National Conference of State Legislatures' 2012 Summit in Chicago where she explained that states are welcome to accept the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act initially and then opt out later.
On Tuesday (8/7), HHS released an interim final rule guiding the operation of electronic health care claim payments from insurers to providers. The department said that this rule, along with two other related ones, could save up to $9 billion over a decade. Comments on the rule are due October 9th.
According to an HHS news release from last week, CMS expects Medicare prescription premiums to rise next year. Bids submitted by drug and health plans indicate that the average monthly premium for basic prescription drug coverage could rise to $30 from this year's $29.67 average.
ON THE HILL
On Thursday (8/9), Republican leaders on the House Ways and Means Committee asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate how much the Obama administration has spent implementing the law and how much it expects to spend through 2014. The representatives also asked the GAO to determine the total amount of money the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) plans to spend by 2014 and for a breakdown of these costs.
IN THE STATES
Five Republican governors have now said there is one way they would consider expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Act -- if "block grants" are used. Block grants would limit the amount of federal money states receive by providing one lump sum. Under a block-grant system, there would be fewer rules about how the sum could be spent, enabling state officials, block grant advocates argue, to make decisions that are best for their states.
IN THIRD PARTIES
The CEO of Papa John's, John Schattner, said this week that people should expect to pay between 11 and 14 cents more per pizza because of "Obamacare."