The MHA Legislative Policy Panel convened May 24 to develop recommendations for the MHA Board of Trustees on legislative initiatives impacting Michigan hospitals. The meeting was highlighted by a presentation on potential state licensure of …
Action was taken the week of May 22 on a variety of bills that would make improvements to the Healthy Michigan Plan, require adult changing tables be included in future construction or renovation projects and …
Legislation to create Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) was signed by Gov. Whitmer May 22. These new public acts allow for certain individuals, including healthcare providers, to file an ERPO if a person is a …
The MHA has been in frequent contact with members of the Michigan Congressional delegation since the association was made aware of shortages of the chemotherapy drugs carboplatin and cisplatin. Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) and …
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs recently published updated rules related to hospitals. Those updates include the following: Final EMS Life Support Agencies and Medical Control Rule The final rule, effective May …
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the timetable and preliminary hospital data that will be used to develop the Medicare wage index for fiscal year 2025, which begins Oct. 1, …
The MHA recently expanded its analysis of enrollment data to reflect Medicare and Medicaid enrollment as a percentage of each county’s total population and the split for Medicare and Medicaid between fee-for-service and managed care …
The MHA Keystone Center is partnering with the Michigan Health Endowment Fund and RUSH University Medical Center to host a virtual roundtable from 10 to 11:15 a.m. June 21 on implementing caregiver navigation programs in …
Approximately 80 leaders responsible for quality, safety and patient experience and patient care participated in an MHA webinar to review the newly released MHA Person & Family Engagement (PFE) Roadmap, which includes recommended policies to re-engage …
Since 1990, the MHA has honored member healthcare organizations working to enrich the overall welfare of their local communities through the Ludwig Community Benefit Award. This year, the MHA is excited to showcase all award nominees, …
“For healthcare, this divergence of views is problematic the proposed debt ceiling compromise includes reducing SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), imposing work requirements for “able-bodied” Medicaid recipients and cutting community health centers budgets—all hit low-income and underserved populations hardest. In these populations, social determinants of health (SDOH) i.e., food insecurity, unsafe/unhealthy housing, inadequate transportation et al play a central role in their health and its costs, but not much is done. …
Abundant health services research points to one conclusion: the inadequacy of solutions to the nation’s burgeoning social issues aka ‘social determinants of health’ results in poorer health status and higher health costs. Disparities persist. Structural flaws and divergent views about public health have calcified its neglect. It’s’ a disconnect the health system is prompted to fix. …”
The MHA received media coverage the week of May 21 regarding the continued shortage of cancer drugs carboplatin and cisplatin and hospital workforce shortages. MHA representatives appearing in published stories include CEO Brian Peters, Executive …
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the timetable and preliminary hospital data that will be used to develop the Medicare wage index for fiscal year (FY) 2025, which begins Oct. 1, 2024. The wage index is used to adjust Medicare fee-for-service payments for geographic variations in labor costs and adjusts up to 68% of the inpatient payment rate and 60% of the outpatient payment rate. The hospital wage index is also used to adjust post-acute care payments. Hospitals have until Sept. 1, 2023, to review their data and submit requests for changes to the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC), along with supporting documentation.
The MHA is hosting an educational webinar at 10 a.m. June 29 to assist hospitals with data reporting. The webinar is free of charge, but registration is required. The MHA will provide hospitals with comparative data from the latest CMS public use file within the next few weeks. Contract labor will have a significant impact on the FY 2025 wage index due to the workforce shortage and heavy reliance on agency staffing during the pandemic. Hospitals are encouraged to begin reviewing agency staffing invoices for cost reporting periods beginning in federal FY 2021 to ensure the information required for the MAC review process is available.
All prospective payment system hospitals are also required to submit a completed occupational mix survey to the MAC by June 30, with survey results used to adjust the wage index for FYs 2025, 2026 and 2027. The CMS is scheduled to release the preliminary survey results July 12, 2023. Resources on completing the occupational mix survey are available upon request.
Members with questions should contact Vickie Kunz at the MHA.