Healthcare Financial News

Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) announced May 9 that the federal government has approved the state’s request to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Families who earn up to 250 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)--approximately $53,000 for a family of four--are now eligible. The approval means that approximately 10,000 more children will receive coverage.

The program will start year-round eligibility for children, regardless of changes to a family’s income, and will include telemedicine as a benefit.

Last August, CMS had issued a controversial directive that appeared to preclude states’ ability to extend coverage beyond 200 percent of the FPL. Read the press release.

Kicking off during National Hospital Week May 11-17, the Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) will launch a new web site, Care Compare, to allow users to access charge information for several types of inpatient hospitalizations at any Nebraska hospital. Consumers can select a hospital by county or city, then select the reason for hospitalization and can compare charges by severity level with those of other hospitals in the region; to other hospitals with similar patient volume; and to other hospitals across the state as a whole. In addition to charges, the number of discharges, average length of stay, and the average age of patients are displayed.

The web site also offers links to several preferred sites that measure hospitals on quality of care, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Hospital Compare and The Joint Commission.

The public will have an opportunity to discuss and share their opinions, suggestions, and expertise on the wage index and alternative methods for computing it at a special open door forum (conference call) to be held May 20 at 2:00 EST. Participants will be asked to comment on nine matters related to the wage index, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s recommendations, and CMS’s FY09 IPPS proposed rule. The comment period for the FY09 IPPS proposed rule ends on June 13, 2008.

An audio recording of this forum will be posted to the special open door forum web site and will be accessible for downloading beginning May 28, 2008.