Hurricane Katrina Information for Mississippi Hospitals

Groups call for mental health parity law

The emotional damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina has prompted the American Hospital Association and some 250 other health organizations to reiterate calls for the passage of effective mental health parity legislation in this session of Congress. In an Oct. 14 letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-IL, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-TN, the groups said loopholes in the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, which requires group health plans to fund mental health benefits at the same level as medical and surgical benefits, allow for higher co-payments, deductibles, and co-insurance payments for mental health services. For this reason, extending the law before it expires on Dec. 31 "is no remedy and would further perpetuate the discrimination faced by those with mental health needs." Studies show that up to 30% of major disaster survivors may develop mental health problems if early mental health services are not provided, the groups said, noting that children are particularly vulnerable.

[ via AHA News ]

Viagra Subsidies to Pay Hurricane Aid in House Bill

Buying your own Viagra will become an act of altruism under a House-passed bill (HR 3971) that pays for hurricane relief with federal funds now devoted to Medicare and Medicaid coverage for erectile dysfunction drugs.

Rep. Nathan Deal (news, bio, voting record), R-Ga., sponsor of the bill, said the government would save $690 million over five years by prohibiting the two government health care programs from subsidizing prescriptions for sexual performance drugs.

For the full story from Yahoo! News, click here.

Gingrey bill targets health care relief for Katrina victims, providers

Legislation introduced Sept. 29 by Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-GA, would provide an emergency relief fund for health care providers that are caring for increased Medicaid populations or have lost their patient base because of Hurricane Katrina. In addition, the Emergency Health Care Relief Act (H.R. 3952) would amend the federal Medicaid Medical Assistance Percentage to allow Gulf Coast states to temporarily pay a reduced share of the program’s costs; help employers in the hardest hit counties maintain private health insurance coverage for their employees; and create a fund to help qualifying victims pay for health insurance premiums. It also would ease regulatory and bureaucratic conditions that prevent victims from quickly getting the care they need, and allow investor-owned hospitals to be reimbursed through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "If we don't act soon, we are going to see a massive health care crisis in the region," Gingrey said.

[ via AHA News ]

AHA urges Congress to help ensure patients have access to care after Katrina

Testifying at a House subcommittee hearing on Sept. 22 assessing health care issues raised by Hurricane Katrina, the American Hospital Association identified several areas that require immediate attention to ensure patients from the region continue to have access to health care services and hospitals continue to be able to provide them. In testimony for AHA, Mark Peters, a family physician and CEO of East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, LA, urged Congress to provide "immediate financial assistance" so hospitals can continue to provide medical services, noting his hospital lost roughly $12 million to $14 million in the first two weeks after the storm and is now losing about $500,000 a day. "If we have no patients, we have no income," he said. He also recommended Federal Emergency Management Agency funds be available for all impacted hospitals, immediate federal coverage for uninsured patients affected by the storm, more flexibility in Medicare and Medicaid regulations, broader liability protection to providers serving in disaster areas, and help reconstructing the hospital and health care infrastructure in states battered by Hurricane Katrina.

[ via AHA News ]

AHA calls Hurricane Katrina health care relief bill 'important first step'

The American Hospital Association on Sept. 21 called the Emergency Health Care Relief Act "an important first step" toward getting assistance to the thousands of people who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina, as well as those who are providing their care. In a letter to bill sponsors Sens. Charles Grassley and Max Baucus, AHA applauded the legislation’s "bipartisan and comprehensive approach."

The association also asked that the Institutions for Mental Diseases exclusion in current Medicaid law be lifted for Katrina-affected patients, "so that community-based non-public hospitals can provide much-needed inpatient psychiatric care, and the Medicaid programs can reimburse for that care." In addition, AHA said it "will be important to ensure that any asset or income test applied to the new Disaster Medicaid Relief program not exclude people who, because of Katrina, suddenly find themselves w ithout sufficient income or assets to qualify for assistance." It also said the fund amount may need to be increased, given the long-term nature of recovery.

[ via AHA News ]

Senate measure seeks to help dislocated health professionals work

The Senate last week approved an amendment to the State, Justice and Commerce appropriations bill intended to help medical professionals who fled Louisiana and Mississippi during Hurricane Katrina get back to work. The amendment would allow licensed medical professionals from Louisiana and Mississippi who serve Medicare, Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance Program and Indian Health Service patients to practice for 90 days in their new state while seeking state licensure.

To qualify for the 90-day waiver, medical professionals must have a valid license from Louisiana and Mississippi, be in good standing in the state, have applied for a license in their new state and not be barred from practicing in that state, according to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, who sponsored the amendment with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-OK. Medical professionals who are unable to produce documentation of their licensure in Louisiana or Mississippi would sign an affidavit attesting to their licensure. The appropriations bill next goes to a conference committee to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions.

[ via AHA News ]

Senate Finance leaders introduce Katrina health care relief bill

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and Ranking Member Max Baucus on Sept. 15 introduced an emergency health care relief package intended to ensure that victims of Hurricane Katrina have immediate access to services. Among the provisions, Katrina survivors with incomes below the federal poverty level, or twice that level for pregnant women and children, would be eligible for a temporary Disaster Relief Medicaid program, which would be available for five months with a possible five-month extension. In addition, survivors with job-based health coverage would be eligible for assistance with premiums.

The states of Louisiana and Mississippi and counties declared a disaster in Alabama would receive a 100% Federal Medical Assistance Percentage from Aug. 28-Dec. 31, 2006, and scheduled declines in federal funding for other state Medicaid programs would be postponed for fiscal year 2006. Health care providers caring for evacuees would receive federal emergency assistance payments to reduce the uncompensated care burden and to address significant fluctuations in patient volume.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt would be permitted to waive the quality-reporting requirement for a full Medicare payment update for acute-care hospitals in disaster areas, and Medicare bad debt would be paid at 100% for Medicare patients that are disaster victims. The Medicare Part B late enrollment penalty would be temporarily suspended for displaced Katrina survivors, and HHS would have to submit a plan for transitioning Medicare-eligible survivors who are also eligible for Medicaid to the new Medicare drug benefit.

[ via AHA News ]

Bill would provide FEMA reimbursement parity

Legislation introduced in the House and Senate last week (H.R. 3714/S. 1393) would extend the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to investor-owned hospitals, allowing them access to Federal Emergency Management Agency funds. Currently, only non-profit hospitals may be reimbursed by FEMA under the Stafford Act. "This inequity should be quickly remedied after experiencing several devastating hurricanes in the past two years, and with many more active hurricane seasons forecasted to come," said Rep. Jeff Miller, R-FL, who introduced the House bill with nine co-sponsors. The Senate bill was introduced by Sens. David Vitter, R-LA, and Mary Landrieu, D-LA.

[ via AHA News ]