News & Bulletins Archive
Hilltop Executive Director Charles Milligan participated on a panel that made a presentation before the Health and Government Operations Committee of the Maryland House of Delegates at a hearing on November 17, 2009, entitled Federal and State Trends in Hospital Oversight. The other presenters were Keith Hearle, President of Verité Healthcare Consulting, LLC, and Donna Folkemer, Group Director of the National Conference of State Legislatures. The presentation described national trends in tax-exempt hospital oversight; discussed state policy directions in financial protections for hospital customers; and presented two catalysts for state policymaking: insurance coverage rates and hospital behavior. Click here to view the presentation.
Hilltop Director of Long-Term Supports and Services Cynthia Woodcock presented findings from a Hilltop study directed by Senior Research Analyst Harriet Komisar, PhD, of community-based services in 11 states at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) Long-Term Care Payment Advisory Committee (LTC PAC) meeting on November 12, 2009. Entitled Medicaid Rate-Setting Methods for Community Services in Selected States, the presentation described the community service system in Maryland, discussed the study, and presented the findings. The study focused on rate-setting methods for personal care, adult day care, and assisted living. Click here to see Hilltop’s presentation.
Hilltop Research Analyst Laura Spicer presented the findings of Hilltop’s evaluation of the New Mexico State Coverage Insurance (SCI) program at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) 31st annual research conference, Evidence-Based Policy Making in the Post-Bush/Clinton Era, on November 7, 2009, in Washington, D.C. Entitled Evaluation of Small Group Employer Participation in New Mexico’s State Coverage Insurance (SCI) Program, the presentation was part of a panel on state health policy. In the presentation, Spicer gave an overview of the SCI program; presented results of the Hilltop surveys of employers who participated as well as those who inquired about but did not participate in the program; discussed implications for states that want to engage small businesses to participate in state coverage initiatives; and discussed implications for federal reform. To view the presentation, click here. In addition, on November 5, 2009, Hilltop Executive Director Charles Milligan was a discussant on a panel entitled Working with States to Develop Health Care Reform Initiatives: Research, Analysis, Politics, which addressed various aspects of health care reform at the state level.
This October, Hilltop Executive Director Charles Milligan has been making presentations to groups around the country on health care reform. On October 13, 2009, Milligan presented at an AcademyHealth-sponsored national teleconference. Over 100 lines called in, from Governor’s offices, insurance departments, Medicaid and SCHIP agencies, and so on, representing over 40 states. On October 23, 2009, Milligan gave a presentation to the Louisiana Health Care Commission; on October 24, 2009, he gave a presentation to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Latino Legislative Summit on Health Disparities. In each presentation, Milligan described the health care reform process currently occurring in Congress, gave an update on the status of the Senate and House bills, and discussed two scenarios for how the process could conclude. For the Latino Legislative Summit, Milligan also discussed implications for states based on each scenario. To view the Summit presentation, which includes the implications for states, click here.
Hilltop Senior Research Analyst Harriet L. Komisar, Ph.D., gave a presentation at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) Center for Gerontology and Geriatrics Second Annual Conference on Aging and Society: “Reforming Long Term Care—Back to the Future” on October 7, 2009, in Westbury, New York. Komisar’s presentation, entitled You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide: Facing the Costs of Long-Term Care, provided an overview of long-term care (LTC), the population who utilizes it, and the common types of LTC assistance needed; discussed the costs of LTC from both an individual’s perspective and the national perspective; and made suggestions as to how the nation can prepare to meet the future needs of this increasing population. To view the presentation, click here.
Hilltop Executive Director Charles Milligan gave a presentation at the National Association for State Health Policy’s (NASHP’s) 22nd Annual State Health Policy Conference on October 6, 2009 in Long Beach, California. In the presentation, entitled Nonprofit Hospitals: Earning Their Tax-Exempt Status Tying Medicaid Coverage to Tax Exemption, Milligan gave a brief history of the relationship between tax-exempt status and insurance coverage; discussed trends in insurance coverage; and suggested potential roles for tax-exempt hospitals in financing public insurance. To view the presentation, click here.
The Hilltop Institute assisted the New Mexico Human Services Department with preparing the renewal applications to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for the Mi Via (My Way) self-directed waiver program. The program operates under two Section 1915(c) Medicaid waivers—one for individuals who might otherwise require care in a nursing home and the other for individuals with developmental disabilities. With Mi Via, participants can avoid institutionalization and remain at home or in the community. Participants manage their own budget and may choose from a wide array of home and community-based services, ranging from supports for community living to health and wellness supports. Hilltop worked with New Mexico on the initial design of Mi Via, originally launched in 2006. Mi Via is recognized as one of the most innovative Medicaid self-directed waiver programs in the country.
The State Health Access Reform Evaluation (SHARE) has just released an issue brief entitled Using Information from Income Tax Forms to Target Medicaid and Chip Outreach: Preliminary Results of the Maryland Kids First Act. The brief discusses the preliminary results of Hilltop’s evaluation of the outreach effort of Maryland’s Kids First Act. Maryland is one of the first states in the country to use information from state income tax forms to identify and enroll Medicaid and CHIP-eligible children. As a result of this innovative approach, SHARE commissioned the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and its partner, The Hilltop Institute, to evaluate the outreach strategy. Hilltop Director of Medicaid Policy Studies David Idala, M. A., is principal investigator and research team leader. The brief identifies ten lessons learned from the experience so far, addressing issues such as data-sharing, health literacy, inclusion/exclusion criteria, tracking mechanisms, and the circumstances under which legislation is necessary in order to implement tax-based outreach. The project is funded by SHARE, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation®, with direction by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. To view the brief, click here.
The State Health Access Reform Evaluation (SHARE) has released an issue brief entitled, Using Information from Income Tax Forms to Target Medicaid and Chip Outreach: Preliminary Results of the Maryland Kids First Act. The brief discusses the preliminary results of Hilltop’s evaluation of the outreach effort of Maryland’s Kids First Act. The view the brief, click here. To view the bulletin, click here.
Hilltop Executive Director Charles Milligan gave a panel presentation at the National Academy for State Health Policy’s Maximizing Enrollment for Kids Conference in Washington, D.C. on September 25, 2009. The panel, Streamlining Enrollment: One-Lane Highway to Express Lane, addressed the new CHIPRA Express Lane Eligibility option and early state experiences with automated enrollment strategies, including Maryland’s Kids First Initiative. Milligan’s presentation, entitled Maryland’s Kids First Act: Using Tax Forms to Identify Medicaid/SCHIP-Eligible Children, described the Act and its requirements; Maryland’s implementation; and the Hilltop evaluation of the outreach effort of using state income tax forms to identify and enroll uninsured but eligible children in Medicaid or CHIP. To view the presentation, click here.
Hilltop Senior Research Analyst Ian Stockwell, M.A., gave a presentation entitled Data Integration in HCBS Program Development at the National Association of State Units on Aging 45th annual membership meeting in Denver, Colorado on September 23, 2009. The presentation discussed the potential that state policymakers now have to pull individual-level information together to form a complete picture of a program population through data integration. This method can provide a wealth of demographic and health status information for program building, as well as help predict service use, set appropriate individual budgets, and determine potential cost savings. Stockwell provided a brief overview of data sources currently available in most states; discussed the potential of new web-based information systems and provided a case study of a system currently in use; and discussed possible metrics and benchmarks, as well as some “best practices” on how to combine disparate datasets. To view the presentation, click here.
The Hilltop Institute has released a new report entitled, Examining Rate Setting for Medicaid Managed Long-Term Care. The report, authored by Anthony M. Tucker, PhD, and Karen E. Johnson, MS, is the second in a series that explores the cross-payer effects of providing Medicaid long-term supports and services on Medicare acute care resource use. Patterns of Medicaid eligibility, as well as resource use under both Medicare and Medicaid, are examined primarily within the context of service use-based groups that can be used to set rates for Medicaid capitation payments for managed long-term care. The view the report, click here. To view the bulletin, click here.
The Hilltop Institute is pleased to present the proceedings of the sixth Hilltop Symposium, Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS): Examining the Evidence Base for State Policymakers, convened on June 11, 2009, at UMBC. The Hilltop Symposium brought together more than 130 policymakers, health services researchers, and healthcare practitioners, including some of the nation’s leading HCBS researchers and policy experts, from across the country to discuss the measures and evidence to examine whether the expansion of home and community-based services has produced desired outcomes (quality, choice, cost, satisfaction, and safety) in the long term for older adults and persons with disabilities. The day was divided into four sessions and was highlighted by a keynote address, a luncheon address, and concluding reflections. To view the bulletin, click here.
The Hilltop Institute and its partner, the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (MIPAR), at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, have been awarded a National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) grant for a field-initiated project entitled Health Care Disparities in Access and Utilization among Individuals with Disabilities, scheduled to begin on October 1, 2009. The study will combine national survey data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), pooling six years of data. Three measures of access and five measures of utilization will mirror those included in the series of Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality National Healthcare Disparities reports. The study’s analytic strategies will allow researchers to identify subpopulations with disabilities that are disparately impacted by system and individual characteristics, ‘doubly underserved’ individuals due to system-level and individual characteristics Researchers will identify factors which have the potential capacity to affect practice and policy, with the aim of elimination of disparities in health and function among individuals with disabilities. Annette Snyder, PhD, MSN, Hilltop’s director of clinical and quality management, is a co-investigator on the grant and will lead Hilltop’s project team. Adele Kirk, PhD, assistant professor of public policy, is also a co-investigator. Nancy Miller, PhD, associate professor of public policy, is the principal investigator and project leader.
The Hilltop Institute sponsored the sixth Hilltop Symposium at which national experts discussed the measures and evidence to examine whether the expansion of home and community-based services (HCBS) has produced desired outcomes (quality, choice, cost, satisfaction, and safety) in the long term for older adults and persons with physical disabilities. The day was divided into four sessions and highlighted by a keynote address, a luncheon address, and concluding reflections. More than 130 policymakers, health services researchers, and health care practitioners from across the country, including the leading experts in the field, participated in the event. Learn more about the Symposium.