Insights

HMA Insights: Your source for healthcare news, ideas and analysis.

HMA Insights – including our new podcast – puts the vast depth of HMA’s expertise at your fingertips, helping you stay informed about the latest healthcare trends and topics. Below, you can easily search based on your topic of interest to find useful information from our podcast, blogs, webinars, case studies, reports and more.

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1012 Results found.

Brief & Report

2020 Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefit Flexibilities: Adoption of and Access to Newly Expanded Supplemental Benefits

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An HMA-authored issue brief examines beneficiary access to, and plan adoption of, newly expanded Medicare Advantage (MA) supplemental benefit flexibilities and raises questions regarding the expected impacts of new supplemental benefit offerings on beneficiary satisfaction, outcomes, and total cost of care.

The new flexibilities for MA plans include innovative supplemental benefits offered through expansion of primarily health-related benefits, benefits offered non-uniformly, Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID), and Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI).

The brief’s key finding is that enrollment in plans offering these flexibilities is relatively low and varies across geographic areas with 19% of all MA enrollees enrolled in a plan that offered at least one expanded supplemental benefit.  HMA will conduct additional analyses including interviews with key stakeholders to inform the policy community on the opportunities and challenges with the adoption and implementation of new supplemental benefits.

This brief was produced by HMA Managing Principals Jonathan Blum and Mary Hsieh, Principal Eric Hammelman, and Senior Consultant Narda Ipakchi under a grant from Arnold Ventures.

Blog

Exploring flexibilities in Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits: HMA brief on access, adoption, and impacts

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An HMA-authored issue brief examines beneficiary access to, and plan adoption of, newly expanded Medicare Advantage (MA) supplemental benefit flexibilities and raises questions regarding the expected impacts of new supplemental benefit offerings on beneficiary satisfaction, outcomes, and total cost of care.

The new flexibilities for MA plans include innovative supplemental benefits offered through expansion of primarily health-related benefits, benefits offered non-uniformly, Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID), and Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI).

The brief’s key finding is that enrollment in plans offering these flexibilities is relatively low and varies across geographic areas with 19% of all MA enrollees enrolled in a plan that offered at least one expanded supplemental benefit.  HMA will conduct additional analyses including interviews with key stakeholders to inform the policy community on the opportunities and challenges with the adoption and implementation of new supplemental benefits.

This brief was produced by HMA Managing Principals Jonathan Blum and Mary Hsieh, Principal Eric Hammelman, and Senior Consultant Narda Ipakchi under a grant from Arnold Ventures.

Webinar

Webinar Replay: Tracking State Responses to COVID-19 for Home Health and Home Care Providers: Survey Results and Provider Perspectives

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This webinar was held on June 9, 2020. 

With most federal COVID-19 funding going to hospitals and nursing homes, states are implementing various Medicaid authorities, legislation, and policies of their own to improve access to long-term services and supports, including home and community-based services. HMA home care experts have tracked these state efforts and presented the results during this informational session. They were joined by home health and home care industry leaders, who offered important perspectives on state actions as well as thoughts on additional steps that will be necessary over the long term.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand state COVID-19 legislation, executive orders, and policy guidance and how it affects home health and home care providers.
  • Gain perspective from home health and home care providers on how state COVID-19 efforts are playing out.
  • Understand the immediate and long-term challenges and opportunities home health and home care providers are likely to face as they respond to COVID-19.

Speakers

Karen Brodsky, Principal, HMA
Pat Kelleher, Executive Director, Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts
Linda Mintz, Co-Chair, CareFinders Total Care
Susan Tucker, Principal, HMA

Blog

Medicare FY 2021 hospital inpatient proposed rule and COVID-19 federal flexibilities

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This week, our In Focus section reviews recent announcements and actions by Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that have significant financial and operational implications for the hospital industry. This brief begins with the most recent of these actions by providing a summary of the key provisions of the CMS Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Proposed Rule (CMS-1735-P), which includes Medicare payment updates and policy changes for the upcoming FY, with a comment deadline of July 10, 2020.  Although somewhat limited in scope compared to previous proposals, this year’s proposed rule includes several disruptive proposals that the hospital industry should carefully consider.

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Blog

Medicaid Managed Care Spending in 2019

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This week, our In Focus section reviews Medicaid managed care spending data collected in the annual CMS-64 Medicaid expenditure report. After submitting a Freedom of Information Act request to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), we have received a draft version of the CMS-64 report that is based on preliminary estimates of Medicaid spending by state for federal fiscal year (FFY) 2019. We expect the final version of the report will be completed by the end of 2020 and posted to the CMS website at that time. Based on the preliminary estimates, Medicaid expenditures on medical services across all 50 states and six territories in FFY 2019 exceeded $594 billion, with over half of all spending now flowing through Medicaid managed care programs. In addition, total Medicaid spending on administrative services was $29.5 billion, bringing total program expenditures to $623.5 billion.

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Webinar

Webinar Replay: Supporting the Behavioral Health Workforce During the COVID-19 Response: Strategies for Providers to Sustain and Strengthen the Behavioral Health System

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This webinar was held on May 18, 2020.

Even as behavioral health providers work tirelessly to respond to COVID-19, the most forward-looking organizations also recognize that the pandemic has laid bare the need to develop a wide variety of short- and long-term solutions to ongoing and emergent needs. The most pressing of these needs concern strategies to support and strengthen the behavioral health system workforce.

During this webinar, HMA experts showed how leading behavioral health providers are using new regulatory flexibilities, emerging staffing models, and new delivery formats to develop and implement organizational changes and innovations that sustain workforce excellence.

Learning Objectives:

  • Hear how behavioral health providers around the country are supporting their workforce and continuing to meet ongoing and emergent behavioral health needs.
  • Learn how collaborative efforts among states and providers can lead to meaningful changes in rules, roles, tools, and approaches to delivering behavioral healthcare.
  • Obtain cross-cutting strategies for management and leadership during a crisis.
  • Find out how to ensure organizational structures are in place to help staff adjust to change, foster resilience, and provide bereavement support when appropriate.
  • Understand the available resources and emerging practices for workforce support, including training, technology, and strategies for enhancing the ability of the behavioral health workforce to meet the needs of special populations.

HMA Speakers

Barry Jacobs, PsyD, Principal, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Gina Lasky, PsyD, Principal, Denver, Colorado
Shannon Mong, PsyD, Principal, San Francisco, California
Lori Raney, MD, Principal, Denver, Colorado
Meggan Schilkie, MBA, Managing Principal, New York
Tim Sheehan, MSW, Principal, Chicago, Illinois