Medicaid

Moneyball: Maybe it’s the Geek in Me. Maybe Because it Saved Me.

February 25, 2012 Data

Tomorrow night’s the Oscar awards ceremony and I have a favorite. We’re movie goers and usually analyze them pretty carefully. Well, even if I didn’t think it was a good movie, Moneyball would be my sentimental favorite. Fortunately, it is a good movie. But I owe them. Here’s why. Michael Lewis has been a favorite […]

Read the full article →

Back by Popular Request – The Geography of Medicaid Spending

February 23, 2012 Geography

From a while back, but evidently still reality: From one county to another, from one community to the next, there are substantial variations in per capita spending on Medicaid patients. This geographic variation in Medicaid spending offers us a substantial opportunity to identify opportunities to control spending while doing minimal harm or even by improving […]

Read the full article →

County Operated Health Services & How We Got Here

February 16, 2012 County

County operated nursing homes have a long history. They haven’t kept up with the changing environment. So even if a bit oversimplified, it’s worth taking a long view. First Generation. Non-Medical, Primarily County Funded Long before Medicare and Medicaid were established in the mid-1960s, county government provided classic public health and backstop services. Indeed, long […]

Read the full article →

Remember “Stages of a Project”?

February 8, 2012 County Government

It appears that Schenectady County is moving ahead with building a new nursing home. Too bad. If it gets done, it will be just under the wire. The closer Schenectady has gotten to re-building, the more County leaders have made their discomfort explicit. Many will now say in private that it’s a mistake, but having […]

Read the full article →

What Will the Client Transition from Fee-for-Service to Managed Long Term Care Look Like?

December 20, 2011 Forecasting

We’ve already talked a little bit about how New York is undertaking a fundamental change in its Medicaid program. Similar changes are underway in many states. As part of this change, Medicaid clients in long term care are being transitioned from fee-for-service programs to various forms of managed care, including managed long term care. How […]

Read the full article →

The Albany County Nursing Home Soap Opera Continues: Episodes 4,564, 4,565, 4,566

December 16, 2011 County Government

Episode 4,564: When we last tuned in, the New York State Public Health and Health Planning Council had politely suggested that Albany County might want to re-evaluate its plans to build a new, ridiculously expensive Nursing Home. The rationale was that the State was about to issue new nursing home rates based on an entirely […]

Read the full article →

Home Care Workers to be Assured of Minimum Wage, Overtime and Pay for Travel Time

December 15, 2011 Federal Government

SInce 1974, based on their characterization as “companions,” much like babysitters, home care workers have been exempt from provisions of Federal Labor Law regarding minimum wages, overtime and travel time. Evelyn Coke, a home care worker Long Island sued her employer regarding these, ultimately her case reached the US Supreme Court. (Here’s a video from […]

Read the full article →

The Next Generation of Medicaid in New York

December 12, 2011 Budget

I used to write a lot about New York’s Medicaid program here (here are the Medicaid posts). But then, just as a cap on growth of local government (New York City and counties outside NYC) Medicaid liabilities was created, I went to work for one of those counties. The county liability is now fixed by […]

Read the full article →

Next Entries →