The Health Care Authority has begun to provide additional information for the 52 rural hospitals in Washington on its multi-payer proposal to revise Medicaid, Medicare and commercial payment. WSHA staff are reviewing the model and have engaged a consultant to help analyze the main drivers in the new payment system. The WSHA Rural Hospital Committee will meet on January 16 to discuss the model and whether additional tools may be useful for members.
HCA developed its new model at the request of hospitals, WSHA and the two Washington rural collaboratives. It is intended to illustrate the major elements of its proposed new approach. The model, as developed by Milliman, uses data from three Washington hospitals to illustrate how the hospitals would have fared if they were operating under the proposed new payment system during 2016, 2017, and 2018. HCA sent a copy of the model results to all Washington rural hospitals. HCA also has invited rural hospitals to participate in a webinar on January 22. HCA is soliciting questions in advance of the webinar. If you have questions, you can send them either directly to HCA staff (Gary Swan) or to WSHA rural staff.
