News

Report: Initial grant funding from Affordable Care Act went toward building workforce, health centers and other efforts to increase access to care

The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) today released an issue brief showing that through the end of the 2011 federal fiscal year, Michigan organizations have received more than $82.5 million in grant funding under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), placing Michigan among the top 15 states. The majority of the funding was targeted to workforce …

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Funding Priorities in the ACA

Much of the discussion and press coverage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been focused on provisions related to the expansion of coverage: the individual mandate, the Medicaid expansion, and to a lesser degree, health insurance exchanges. These provisions don’t go into effect until 2014. Other important parts of the ACA are already in place, and already making a …

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A Caveat on the Cheesecake Factory and Health Care

Atul Gawande’s latest article in the New Yorker magazine is a hot trending story in health care. It even spawned an editorial in the Wall Street Journal that seemed oddly confused about what Gawande was advocating. In his article, Gawande talks about lessons learned from quality and cost control processes at a restaurant chain called The Cheesecake Factory, and argues …

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The Lesser Known Parts of the ACA and Medicaid

Since the Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the discussion about Medicaid has largely focused on a choice states now have: whether or not to expand coverage to those at or below 138 percent of poverty. This issue is extremely important because of the impact it could have on those who are uninsured today. However, there is …

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Health Reform on the Ground: The Case of Cheboygan Memorial

Debates about the Affordable Care Act continue—especially in this election year—but health reform is already happening all around us. All we need to do is look. Case in point: Cheboygan, Michigan, where the local hospital was closed suddenly at the beginning of April, and then resurrected—in a different form—in mid-May. Initial press reports about the closure left the impression that …

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Medicaid changes under the Affordable Care Act will simplify enrollment, reduce number of uninsured in Michigan

The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) released a policy paper that shows how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014 will streamline eligibility categories and may also help between 400,000 and 500,000 citizens to become newly eligible for Medicaid coverage. Currently, there are at least 40 different ways—each with varying eligibility requirements—to qualify for Medicaid …

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A Failure to Communicate: How Washington Drops the Ball

Earlier this year, on April 3, the Cheboygan News reported that Cheboygan Memorial Hospital was closing unexpectedly. The hospital had been in a purchase agreement with McLaren Health Care, based in Flint; the closure came as an unwelcome surprise to many in the community. Here’s what was in the press as it became clear the hospital would close in early …

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