CMS Proposes Medicare Advantage Risk Adjustment Increase

Payers in Medicare Advantage (MA) may soon see a change to its risk adjustment model that will take into account mental health, substance use disorder and chronic kidney disease and makes adjustments “to take into account the number of conditions an individual beneficiary may have."

FCC Looks to Expand Funding for the Rural Health Care Program to Support Telemedicine and Virtual Care

Weeks after voting to provide a short-term funding boost for a program that supports broadband access for rural healthcare providers, the Federal Communications Commission is considering raising the annual funding cap moving forward to provide lasting support for telemedicine programs that require high-speed internet.

In States That Didn’t Expand Medicaid, Hospital Closures Have Spiked

A new study released Monday reports a crucial consequence of that divide: Nonexpansion states have suffered a significant increase in hospital closures. States that expanded benefits, on the other hand, saw their rate of closures decline. 

Home Care Could Help Target Preventable Health Care Use

Partnerships with providers of social services could be an avenue for reducing preventable health care use in older adults, and in-home care providers can play a role. With social determinants of health and population health becoming more prominent in health care, cross-sectoral partnerships with Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) could give home care and home health agencies an edge, the findings of a new study in Health Affairs suggest.