Medicaid Managed Care Rates and Flexibilities: State Options to Respond to COVID-19 Pandemic September 9, 2020 Issue Brief This brief provides an overview of how Medicaid managed care organization (MCO) capitation rates are developed by states and approved by CMS, highlights options available to states to adjust current rates and/or risk sharing mechanisms, describes how MCOs pay providers, and outlines state options to direct MCO payments to providers in response to conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This Week in Coronavirus: August 28 to September 3 September 4, 2020 Blog During the 33rd week since the first coronavirus case appeared in the United States worldwide cases surpassed the 26 million mark and United States’ cases breached 6 million with over 186,000 deaths.
Medicare’s Finances Have Gotten Much Worse in Recent Years, Foreshadowing Tough Choices for November’s Winners September 3, 2020 Blog This policy watch post discusses the latest Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund solvency projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which show the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt Medicare’s financial outlook, and foreshadow the tough choices facing the next President and Congress.
JAMA Forum: Trump vs Biden on Health Care September 3, 2020 Perspective In this September 2020 post for The JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt highlights differences in the records and policy plans of President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on key health care issues.
Survey Question Finder September 2, 2020 Interactive KFF’s Survey Question Finder lets you to search for individual survey questions asked on all our polls since 1992. Search by keyword, date, and/or topic to find full question wording and results.
What We Know About Provider Consolidation September 2, 2020 Issue Brief This brief reviews what we know about the impact of provider consolidation on health care prices and quality and finds that consolidation leads to higher prices with no compelling evidence of commensurate quality improvements.
Explaining California v. Texas: A Guide to the Case Challenging the ACA September 1, 2020 Issue Brief This issue brief answers key questions about California v. Texas (known as Texas v. US in the lower courts), the case challenging the Affordable Care Act to be heard by the Supreme Court.
COVID-19 Outbreaks in Long-Term Care Facilities Were Most Severe in the Early Months of the Pandemic, but Data Show Cases and Deaths in Such Facilities May Be On the Rise Again September 1, 2020 News Release The rate of new COVID-19 cases and deaths in long-term care facilities declined markedly in May and June after the novel coronavirus swept through nursing homes in April, but recent data show the incidence may be on the rise again, according to a new KFF analysis. A second new analysis…
Overlooked and Undercounted: The Growing Impact of COVID-19 on Assisted Living Facilities September 1, 2020 Issue Brief This analysis examines the impact of COVID-19 on assisted living facilities, including changes in cases and deaths between June and August 2020, using state-reported data on COVID-19. The analysis finds a significant increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths among residents and staff in assisted living facilities over this two-month period. Due to the incomplete nature of state reporting, these numbers are an undercount.