Advanced Practice Nurses: Willing to Meet the Needs of the Medicaid Expansion

This guest post was written by Donna Petko, MSN(c), BSN, RN; Clinical Director; 1st Choice Home Health Providers, LLC

If Medicaid Eligibility Expansion (HB 6253) is approved in early January 2013, an estimated 342,000 low-income adults in Illinois will become eligible and enrolled in Medicaid over the next four years.  Once these individuals become insured, they are likely to seek out primary care providers.  However, as designated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, 100 counties in Illinois have been identified as having State Physician and/or Federal Health Professional Shortage areas (Health & Medicine Policy Research Group [HMPRG], 2012).  Who will provide primary health care services to these newly enrolled Illinois residents?

Advanced practice nurses (APNs) are one solution to the growing shortage of primary care physicians (PEW, 1999).  APNs are registered nurses who have advanced knowledge and clinical training, a graduate degree, and hold national certification.  These professionals serve as health care providers in a broad range of primary care, acute care, and outpatient settings.  In Illinois, there are four categories of APNs: certified nurse-midwife (CNM), clinical nurse specialist (CNS), certified nurse practitioner, (CNP) and certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA).  Currently, there are more than 7,500 advanced practice nurses in the state of Illinois (HMPRG, 2012).

What do advanced practice nurses do?  APNs diagnose illnesses, prescribe treatments and medications, and provide primary care services in a variety of settings which include hospitals, clinics, community health centers, nursing facilities, and schools (HMPRG, 2012).  According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2010), APNs increase patient safety, access, and continuity of care.  Data from studies on APNs show that these professionals deliver safe, high-quality primary care services (ANA, 2012). 

In order to meet the growing need for healthcare services within the state, APNs need to practice to the fullest extent of their education and training. How do we increase access to healthcare services for Illinois residents?  By changing the Nurse Practice Act and removing practice barriers: 

• Eliminating the requirement for a written collaborative agreement between physicians and APNs 
• Allowing APNs to participate in the insurance exchange as primary care providers
• Providing APNs with full plenary authority to provide access to Illinois residents needing primary care services (HMPRG, 2012).

Besides providing safe, high-quality healthcare, APNs provide a considerable cost savings as well.  For example, the average cost of a nurse practitioner (NP) visit is between 20-35% less than the average cost of an office-based physician visit (Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2010).  Furthermore, malpractice rates of NPs are no higher in states with independent NP practice when compared to those states where collaboration is required for practice (HMPRG, 2012).

In addition to supporting HB 6253, which will allow Illinois to leverage over $5 billion in federal Medicaid funding to provide comprehensive health care coverage to over 342,000 low-income individuals (Becker, 2012), please support advanced practice nurses in their quest to provide better access to healthcare services for Illinois residents.  Because APNs are more likely to work in underserved areas caring for Medicaid beneficiaries than primary care physicians (Grumbach et al., 2003; Kaiser, 2011), the barriers to practice must be removed.

The Illinois General Assembly needs to pass HB 6253 by January 9, 2013, the end of the current legislative session, to ensure programs and systems are in place just 12 months from now, when one of the largest parts of health care reform begins (IHM, 2012).  Once this bill is passed, the only way to ensure better access to care for Illinois residents is by changing the Nurse Practice Act to allow APNs to practice to the fullest extent of their education and training. 

Please continue to support this common-sense, fiscally sound legislation in Illinois.  To find out who your legislators are, go to the Illinois State Board of Elections Search Page. Please share this message and urge your friends and family members to tell their legislators to support these efforts between now and January 9, 2013. For more info, read this fact sheet from Health & Medicine Policy Research Group. 

What Happens to the Pre-Existing Condition Plans on Jan. 1, 2014?

This post is the first in a series on the Illinois State Partnership Exchange Blueprint Application, which is pending approval by the Federal Government. 

For years, health insurance carriers refused to sell coverage to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) created federally funded high risk pools across the country, including the Illinois Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (IPXP) so that people denied for that reason would not have to go without health insurance. Starting on January 1, 2014, the ACA bans insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. As a result, IPXP will no longer be needed, and coverage under the plan will be terminated.

So what happens to the enrollees of IPXP on January 1, 2014? 

The ACA dictates that anyone currently enrolled in IPXP will be transitioned into a private insurance plan via the state health insurance exchange. This transition process will happen at the end of 2013. According to the Illinois State Partnership Exchange Blueprint Application, the state has mechanisms in place to prevent lapses in health coverage, as follows:

• Illinois will send at least three letters to IPXP enrollees containing information on the transition process;
• The state will conduct proactive outreach to IPXP participants and update the IPXP website with relevant information; and
• The Illinois health insurance exchange will have extra personnel at the call center specifically to assist with the IPXP transition.

IPXP will only extend coverage for health services until December 31, 2013, which means that all current IPXP enrollees will need to find an alternative health plan before January 1, 2014.  Claims dating from before December 31, 2013 will need to be filed in the close-out period, which will run until June 30, 2015. If deferral funding for the IPXP program has run out, however, even claims filed before that date will not be payable.

Open enrollment into the state health insurance exchange will begin on October 1, 2013, with insurance coverage beginning on January 1, 2014. If current IPXP enrollees purchase a plan during open enrollment, there should be no gaps in their health coverage. Since Illinois is still in the process of establishing its health insurance exchange, check back here for details on how and where to enroll in a health insurance exchange plan, as well as future updates on the IPXP transition process. If you have questions now, contact IPXP at (877) 210-9167, or e-mail your question directly to IPXPInquiry@healthalliance.org

Five Myths about the Medicaid Expansion

The Supreme Court's June 2012 Affordable Care Act ruling was decisive about the implications of the individual mandate; however, it was less decisive about the ACA's Medicaid expansion. The court gave flexibility to each state to decide whether to expand Medicaid to its low income uninsured (below 138% FPL) residents. This flexibility has caused some confusion (some legitimate and some purposeful) about the implications of the Supreme Court decision. Below we address some of the myths vs. realities of the Medicaid Expansion and what it means for Illinois residents:

Medicaid Myth #1: Few states will expand their Medicaid programs.
Reality: As of 12/12/12, according to health care experts Avalere Health, 18 states have signaled that they will expand, 10 have said that they won't and 23 are undecided. Another health care expert, the Advisory Board Company, shows 14 states in the "not participating" or "leaning toward not participating" group while 18 states are in the participating or leaning toward participating group. Notably, this week, Nevada's Republican Governor and GOP leaders just signaled that they will opt in.

Medicaid Myth #2: Many low-income residents would be eligible for federal subsidies on the exchange if a state does not expand Medicaid. Expanding Medicaid takes away their opportunity to purchase private insurance.
Reality: The reality is that people living under 100% FPL WILL NOT qualify for subsidies to buy health insurance on the Exchanges and will be the only ones (besides undocumented immigrants) left out in the cold if Illinois doesn't expand Medicaid. Without the new Medicaid eligibility category, these individuals are in a new “donut hole” and will likely be priced out of affordable health insurance through the Exchange because they won’t qualify for the federal financial help. The Urban Institute estimates that of the newly eligible population, approximately 431,000 Illinoisans with household incomes less than 100% FPL will be left in the cold if Illinois does not implement the new Medicaid eligibility category. They will have to continue to access safety-net providers and emergency rooms for care, driving up costs for these providers and showing up sicker. In addition, we all pay more when others are uninsured: according to a study conducted by Millman, Inc., an independent actuarial consulting firm, every family with health insurance pays an additional $1,000 per year to pay for care for the uninsured.

The only "low-income" residents that are either eligible for subsidies on the Exchange OR can participate in Medicaid if Illinois expands Medicaid are people living between 100% -138% FPL. This is a small number of people. Even among those small numbers who DO qualify for exchange subsidies and take up that coverage, the greater cost-sharing requirements for exchange coverage than in Medicaid means that these adults will experience greater financial burdens associated with meeting their health care needs.

 
Medicaid Myth #3: The state will pay for the Medicaid expansion but will not pay for federal insurance subsidies.
Reality: Not true. The state will not pay for Medicaid Expansion from 2014 through 2016. The federal government pays 100% of the expansion. From 2017 through 2020, the state will slowly start picking up a very small percentage that will slowly increase from 5% to 10% by 2020. In 2020 and beyond, the state will only be responsible for 10% of the cost of the Expansion population.

Medicaid Myth #4: The federal government is already trying to shift more Medicaid expansion costs to the states as a major part of the fiscal year 2013 budget.
Reality: We have no reason to believe that this will happen and the reality is that President Obama is committed to ensuring full implementation of the Medicaid Expansion by states. On December 10, the Obama administration backed away from roughly $100 billion in Medicaid savings it had proposed during deficit-reduction talks earlier this year. In its December 10, 2012 FAQ to states, CMS notes: "The Supreme Court decision has made the higher matching rates available in the Affordable Care Act for the new groups covered even more important to incentivize states to expand Medicaid coverage. The Administration is focused on implementing the Affordable Care Act and providing assistance to states in their efforts to expand Medicaid to these new groups." We have no reason to believe that the federal government will change its mind about the 90% match in the year 2020 and beyond for the Expansion population.

Medicaid Myth #5: Overloading a broken Medicaid program hurts the most vulnerable. Adding so many more people to the Medicaid program will only make these problems worse. 
Reality: The poor who are also uninsured right now still get sick and use health care services. They just don't receive care when they need in the appropriate setting because they end up waiting until their conditions worsens or becomes an emergency. The Medicaid Expansion will allow this group for the first time to have health insurance, and therefore greater access to care at the right time, in the right setting. In addition, in a report released by the GAO (Government Accountability Office) last month, the GAO found that "in calendar years 2008 and 2009, less than 4 percent of beneficiaries who had Medicaid coverage for a full year reported difficulty obtaining medical care, which was similar to individuals with full-year private insurance." In fact, IL received a bonus payment of over $15 million last year for meeting quality and other standards in the CHIP program

The current Illinois Medicaid program is not broken; it is efficiently run. Nationally, the per enrollee cost growth in Medicaid (6.1%) is lower than the per enrollee cost growth in comparable coverage under Medicare (6.9%), private health insurance (10.6%), and monthly premiums for employer-sponsored coverage (12.6%). Illinois’ average annual growth in Medicaid spending for FY2007-FY2010 was 6.6%. While it is true that Medicaid in Illinois pays providers less than they typically receive from private insurance (and therefore fewer providers accept patients with Medicaid), to address this issue, beginning January 2013, the Affordable Care Act will be increasing Medicaid payments for primary care doctors.

These aren't the only myths about the Medicaid expansion; the opponents are so bereft of data that they have to result to myth-making. The reality is that the Medicaid expansion makes good fiscal sense and will make a huge difference in the lives of literally hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents. The reality is that the Medicaid expansion is an excellent deal for the state of Illinois.


Health & Disability Advocates
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law

The Affordable Care Act and You: The New Consumer Benefits

The election is over, and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is here to stay. The Shriver Center, along with numerous national and local advocacy organizations, has been active in getting the word out about what is in the ACA. Surveys show that many people are unaware of the benefits that are available to them because of the ACA and that most Americansapprove of the consumer benefits offered by the Act. And so, we are launching a biweekly blog series called “The Affordable Care Act and You” because it is time to get to know the ACA.

Let’s start with the basics. What is the Affordable Care Act? Signed on March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act sets forth provisions and regulations to reform our health care system in a way that offers more people access to health care. It is important to know that not all insurance plans are subject to the consumer protections rules of the ACA. Employer-sponsored health insurance plans that existed before March 23, 2010, are granted a “grandfather status,” which basically means that they have to abide only by some of the rules of the ACA. However, insurance plans created after that date must abide by all of the ACA’s regulations.

The ACA has decreased the number of uninsured individuals in the U.S., ensured that insurance companies spend at least 80% of your premium dollars on your medical needs, and has made it easier for small businesses to offer health insurance to their employees. These are just some of the existing reforms made by the ACA; in this first blog in the series we will talk about several more consumer benefits provided for in the Act.

1. The ACA makes preventive services free of cost-sharing.

Too many Americans refrain from getting needed preventive care because of the expenses they must pay out-of-pocket.Preventive care is crucial for the simple fact that it helps individuals to avoid costly and deadly illness by detecting health issues early. The ACA requires health plans, excluding grandfathered plans, to offer you preventive services at no additional cost. This means that your immunizations, screenings, and checkups are covered—no out-of-pocket expenses. And for women, well-woman visits, mammograms, contraceptives, and other services are also free of cost-sharing. You can find the full list of preventive services that are now free of cost-sharing here.

2. The ACA bans lifetime dollar limits.

Medical expenses are costly for a healthy individual; for millions of Americans living with a chronic medical condition, health care costs can lead to financial ruin and loss of health insurance. For years, it has been perfectly legal for insurance companies to impose a lifetime dollar limit on your health coverage. And once you reach that amount, they can stop paying for your health expenses. Now, because of the ACA, if you or someone you know has a medical condition, there is no longer a need to worry about losing insurance coverage because of lifetime dollar limit. Because of the ACA, insurance companies are banned from imposing a lifetime dollar limit on your coverage. In addition, the use ofannual dollar limits will be phased out over the next two years and banned entirely in 2014.

3. The ACA provides for dependent coverage for young adults up to the age of 26.

The ACA’s dependent coverage provision allows young adults up to the age of 26, to stay or be added to their parents’ health insurance. The young adult population, or so-called “young invincibles,” often struggle to afford health insurance, and many just go without. Since the dependent coverage provision went into effect in 2010, 13.7 million young adultswere able to remain or rejoin their parents’ health insurance. If you are under the age of 26, or a parent of a young adult under the under this age, check to see if your insurance plan offers dependent coverage up to the age of 26.

4. The ACA will assure that pre-existing conditions will no longer be a barrier to coverage.

Several common health conditions—asthma, high blood pressure, arthritis—can be considered pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies, if they choose to, can refuse to cover you because of a pre-existing condition. Since the passage of the ACA, children can no longer be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Adults, on the other hand, must wait until 2014 to receive the same benefit. Luckily, the federal government, under the ACA, provided funding to the states for temporary high-risk pools. This funding provides health insurance for adults with pre-existing conditions who are unable to find coverage because of their conditions. In Illinois, this program is called the Illinois Pre-existing Condition Plan (IPXP), and you can enroll by contacting the Department of Insurance.

5. The ACA will end gender rating.

In many states, women can be charged more for health insurance than men—as much $391 more annually! This surprisingly common practice—where insurance company charge more based on gender—is called gender rating. In states that do not already prohibit gender rating, 95% of the best-selling health insurance plans practice it. In Illinois, 100% of the best-selling health insurance plans practice gender rating. Starting in 2014, the ACA will ban gender rating in all states.

These five patient consumer benefits are only the tip of the iceberg. Once the ACA is fully implemented, Americans can expect health insurance to be more accessible, affordable, and comprehensive. Now you know some of the consumer benefits that may benefit you or your family and friends. So spread the word!

This post originally appeared on The Shriver Brief.

Coauthored by Viviane Clement and Andrea Kovach.