Please respond to classmates discussion post and question
1. ( Elizabeth- Medicaid) 49% of patients are covered by Medicaid at health centers. Health centers supply care for the less fortunate, providing physical, behavioral, and supportive services (Rosenbaum et al.,2019). Examples of these places are schools and homeless shelters. An example of a supportive service would be a health center that provides addiction treatment. Money from Medicaid and section 330 grant give a majority of the money that supports health centers. Along with this money these centers receive funding from additional sources like other insurance companies, patients that pay out of pocket, and grants from private and public funds. Health centers also receive specific grants for particular services, for example, centers obtain money for services that involve reproductive health. Another example is when these centers get money for veterans and inmates. Additionally, state funding and local public health grants are given to health facilities to support vision screening and screening for infections diseases. Medicaid specifically uses the Prospective Payment System (PPS) which synchronizes payments with care. With a Prospective Payment System, health centers get the predetermined rate per visit for each patient based on the cost of care for each Medicaid patient. Occasionally, Health centers and Medicaid create their own payment methods to try to see which methods work best. Despite all this preparation PPS attempts to keep payment rates and cost of care as similar as possible but they seem to still be a discrepancy at times. In all, funding from Medicaid and agencies other has positively affected health centers allowing for more locations, services, and staff.
Question:
Why is Medicaid important to society?
2. (Elizabeth- Medicare)Medicare treatment and spending decisions vary significantly in different regions. This can be due to patient preferences. If Medicare changes its policies and doesn’t take into consideration their customer’s preferences, then their company may experience problems with client satisfaction. This research article explains a study completed to evaluate whether patient preferences made an impact on the company spending. Data was used from three places, the 2005 Hospital Referral Region (HRR) mortality and spending record, 2006 median household spending by county, and information from a self-reported survey questioning Medicare policy owners about their health status and preferences when it came to types of healthcare. The contribution of policy holders’ preferences that varied by area was evaluated by using multiple sources from the Hospital Referral Region and by further estimating the effect of patient preferences on Medicare spending. To measure the difference in spending the Hospital Referral Region’s top and bottom quintiles were used and the difference equivalated to patient preference. Although there are limitations in this study they were noted and dealt with accordingly in order to assure the results were accurate. It was determined that supply factors, patient health, and income impacted area variation and spending more than preferences did. On the other hand, patient preferences still were statistically and economically important to Medicare especially when end-of-life care was the topic of discussion. This newfound information can help policymakers make changes to the Medicare policy as needed.
Question:
Why would patient preference be important to Medicare?
