MHA Board Chair Mark T. Jensen announced to Maryland's hospitals this week that MHA President & CEO Carmela Coyle has been elected to a three-year term on the American Hospital Association Board of Trustees. "This is quite an honor, and a real testament not only to Carmela's leadership at the state level, but also to her reputation at the national level," Jensen said. The Board of Trustees is the policy-making body of the AHA and has ultimate authority for the governance and management of its direction and finances. Jensen continued, "With all eyes on Maryland's unique all-payer system, this position also offers us a chance to bring Maryland's perspective to the national discussion, and the national perspective home."

The Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) has identified $21 million in savings to the state's Medicaid program in fiscal year 2016, surpassing the $16.7 million the agency was required to save by the state legislature in this year's Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act. The savings, achieved through a combination of reductions to uncompensated care and other decisions made by the commission as part of the global budget update during its June meeting after working with MHA to ensure that planned savings would be counted, means that additional actions will not be needed in order to secure the required savings. The projected $21 million in savings to the Medicaid program is further evidence of the progress that Maryland's hospitals have made under the all-payer model to reduce the state's health care costs, which also contributed to the legislature's willingness to reduce by $25 million a year the Medicaid hospital tax during this year's General Assembly. A copy of HSCRC's letter to Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Department of Budget and Management outlining the savings is here.

At this month's Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) meeting, HSCRC staff provided a report on the all-payer revenue growth for the full 12 months of fiscal year 2015, noting that the total per capita growth of 1.85 percent was 0.50 percent below the amount approved by commissioners for the fiscal year. Commissioners also received a number of other updates on Certificate of Need activity, the Consumer Engagement Task Force, and CRISP development activities at this month's meeting. More details can be found in this month's edition of Newsbreak. 

The Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) this week introduced the revamped Maryland Health Care Quality Reports website, whose goal is to focus Maryland's health care providers on delivering better care, spending health care dollars in a wiser manner, and helping people stay healthy. This consumer-friendly resource brings together three consumer guides (on hospitals, long-term care and ambulatory surgery centers) as well as the quality report on health benefit plans. Click here for MHCC's release on the upgraded site.