Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, there has been consistent federal guidance employing and clarifying its provisions. Hilltop develops regulation summaries to assist state and local policymakers in their implementation of health reform. On March 1, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released three sets of final rules: benefits and payment parameters for various programs, the multi-state plan program, and the risk corridor calculation and alternative methodology for calculating cost-sharing reductions. This document provides a high-level summary of these rules and highlights key changes to the regulation since the issue of the proposed rule.

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The Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports in Maryland Chart Book, Volume 3, The Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver is the last in a series of three that explores service utilization and expenditures for Medicaid-funded long-term services and supports in Maryland. Volume 1 explores service utilization and expenditures for Maryland Medicaid’s Living at Home Waiver, Older Adults Waiver, and Medical Day Care Waiver, as well as Maryland State Plan personal care services and Medicaid nursing facility utilization and expenditures. Volume 2 provides information on the states’ Medicaid Autism Waiver.

This chart book provides information about Maryland Medicaid participants who received services through the Traumatic Brain Injury Waiver state in fiscal years (FYs) 2008 through 2011.

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This is the sixth issue brief in a series resleased by Hilltop’s Hospital Community Benefit Program. This brief is a companion to the online tool, Community Benefit State Law Profiles, and presents the Profiles’ findings and begins the analysis—in effect, viewing state community benefit standards through the lens of the ACA—to facilitate a better understanding of each state’s community benefit landscape and its significance in the context of national health reform. The other issue briefs in the Hospital Community Benefits after the ACA series are The Emerging Federal Framework, Building on State Experience, Partnerships for Community Health Improvement, Schedule H and Hospital Community Benefit—Opportunities and Challenges for the States, and Community Building and the Root Causes of Poor Health.

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This chart book provides an overview of the number of Marylanders using long-term services and supports in state fiscal years (FYs) 2008 through 2011, and the cost to Medicaid to finance these services. Medicaid programs and services addressed in this chart book include the Living at Home Waiver, the Medical Day Care Services Waiver, the Older Adults Waiver, Medical Assistance Personal Care Program, and nursing facility residents.

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Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, there has been consistent federal guidance employing and clarifying its provisions. Hilltop develops regulation summaries to assist state and local policymakers in their implementation of health reform. On January 14, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on various eligibility and administrative provisions for insurance affordability programs under the ACA. This document provides a high-level summary of this rule and highlights the items for comment.

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The Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports in Maryland Chart Book, Volume 2, The Autism Waiver is the second chart book in a series of two that explores service utilization and expenditures for Medicaid-funded long-term services and supports in Maryland. The first chart book in the series explores service utilization and expenditures for Maryland Medicaid’s Living at Home Waiver, Older Adults Waiver, and Medical Day Care Waiver, as well as Maryland State Plan personal care services and Medicaid nursing facility utilization and expenditures.

This chart book provides information about Maryland Medicaid participants who received services through the Autism Waiver in fiscal year (FY) 2008 through FY 2011.

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This document provides additional analysis requested by the Continuity of Care Advisory Committee and public stakeholders and serves as an addendum to the Committee’s report, Analysis of Options to Ensure Continuity of Care.

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The Maryland Health Benefit Exchange Act of 2012 requires the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange (MHBE) to conduct a study and report findings and recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly on “the establishment of requirements for continuity of care in the State’s health insurance markets (2012, Md. Laws, Ch. 152).” To meet this legislative charge, the MHBE established the Continuity of Care Advisory Committee in the fall of 2012 and issued a request for proposal (RFP). The RFP sought a consultant to conduct a study evaluating options for continuity of care provisions to assist beneficiaries who may transition between coverage under Medicaid/the Maryland Children’s Health Program (MCHP) and qualified health plans (QHPs) offered through the MHBE. The MHBE contracted with Hilltop to conduct this study and provide staff support to the Continuity of Care Advisory Committee. The Committee, consultant, and the public worked collaboratively to develop a set of options and considerations for the MHBE Board of Trustees.

 

The purpose of this report is to present the results of the study and summarize the Committee’s discussions and written comments to help guide the MHBE Board as it makes recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly.

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Hilltop Long-Term Services and Supports Policy and Research Director Donna C. Folkemer, MA, gave this presentation at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Fall Forum Pre-Conference Meeting on December 5, 2012, in Washington, DC. Folkemer discussed eight things legislators should know about quality. The pre-conference meeting was attended by legislators and legislative staff from across the country.

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Senior Policy Analysts Laura A. Spicer, MA, and Charles Betley, MA, gave this presentation at a Continuity of Care Advisory Committee Meeting. The Committee was appointed by the Board of Trustees in June of 2012 to begin addressing the transition between Medicaid, the state-based exchange and the commercial market.

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