Changes in the Eligibility for Medicaid May Be Underway

As more Americans are expressing a newfound public appreciation and public awareness for Medicaid, it seems like certain changes to the program, including eligibility for Medicaid are on the horizon. According to Medicaid's executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors Matt Salo, this is critical for the program's future. He also acknowledged that it’s now up to the states to bolster Medicaid in such a way that it becomes holistic, value-driven and most of all, better coordinated for the program's most needy beneficiaries.

Recent Attempt to Cut Medicaid Budget Failed

Recently, GOP congressional proposals have been aimed at one thing: to place a ceiling on the federal spending for Medicaid. This is intended to be part of the group's effort to overthrow the Affordable Care Act, a goal they have failed to meet yet again just recently. If they had succeeded, Medicaid would have lost as much as $834 billion in funding. Read more from this blog: http://bit.ly/2xRflYW

The Importance of Intimate Staff Meetings in Hospital Revenue Cycle Management

A hospital’s finance department consists of staff with various responsibilities. This means that each accounts receivable employee has different experiences and challenges in doing their work. Understanding this allows managers to focus on each individual to address issues in a way tailored to their needs to improve hospital revenue cycle management.

According to Susan Eilman, a senior healthcare consultant at Hayes Management Consulting, one-on-one meetings can be a powerful tool to increase individual productivity, creating a more efficient department. Such meetings enable hospitals to utilize listening as a tool to point out issues that may not be discovered through a larger-scale discussion. Read more from this blog: http://bit.ly/2yaAIW7

With Looming Budget Cuts, Getting Approved for Disability Social Security Can Become Tougher

For people living with disabilities, it’s been a case of “do you want the good news or bad news first.” Let’s begin with the good: based on several reports the lifetime of the Social Security Trust Fund has been deemed slightly healthier. This means the fund will have enough money to support the agency’s initiatives until 2028—a full five years longer than initial forecasts.

Now the bad news: the larger-than-expected fund is caused by a massive backlog in social security applications and payouts. It’s been revealed that people who have been rejected previously for disability social security benefits have to wait a record 596 days or 19.5 months before hearing anything back. This is up from 545 days in September of last year, and markedly longer than the 353 processing days in took in 2012 -- an increase of over 54%. Read more from this blog: http://bit.ly/2wOj5eD