Affordable Care Act: 2013 implementation timeline
The timeline below details provisions and deadlines for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) scheduled during the 2013 calendar year. Not all dates are set by law and some are subject to change pending the regulatory process. Since its passage in March 2010, many parts of the Affordable Care Act have already taken effect. However, 2013 is a …
Read more >
Affordable Care Act funding: An analysis of grant programs under health care reform
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a comprehensive law with the potential to affect the health of Americans in many ways. This issue brief focuses on ACA grants that were awarded during a shortened fiscal year 2010 (March 23, 2010 to September 30, 2010) and fiscal year 2011 (October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011). This brief …
Read more >
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy for breast and lung Cancer: A review of use, cost, clinical evidence, and safety
Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is a type of radiation therapy that uses inverse-planning tools to derive beamlets with variable intensities within each beam to deliver highly conformal radiation doses to tumors while reducing radiation doses to healthy tissues. Its ability to reduce the radiation dose to surrounding tissue means that higher doses can be given to tumors without increasing the …
Read more >
Medicaid eligibility in Michigan: 40 ways to qualify for government-supported medical assistance
Medicaid Eligibility Before the Affordable Care Act Under federal rules governing the Medicaid program, individual states have broad discretion to expand Medicaid eligibility beyond federally-mandated categories. In Michigan, there are no fewer than 40 different ways to qualify for Medicaid or other government-supported medical assistance. Eligibility requirements vary widely among the eligibility categories, and eligibility determinations are made based on …
Read more >
The path to health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act: A flow chart
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), efforts continue at the state and federal levels to prepare for implementation of key provisions of the ACA scheduled to take effect in 2014. These provisions, such as the (now optional) Medicaid expansion, the individual mandate to purchase insurance, state insurance …
Read more >
Advance directive registries: A policy opportunity
The most critical health care decisions facing patients and families are often made under the most difficult of circumstances—in emergencies, or when patients are not able to speak for themselves. When patients are unable to communicate their own wishes for treatment, and have not made them known to family or physicians in advance with an advance directive, it is up …
Read more >
E-prescribing: Barriers and opportunities
Electronic prescribing (also known as e-prescribing) is a system that enables providers in health care settings—e.g. doctors’ offices, hospitals, and long-term care facilities—to electronically write and store prescription information and send it directly to pharmacies. There are two main types of e-prescribing systems: Systems integrated with electronic health records, which include comprehensive patient information. Stand-alone systems, which are less costly …
Read more >
Medicaid eligibility, enrollment, and outreach practices across the U.S.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) expands Medicaid eligibility to all individuals at or below 133 percent of poverty (138 percent with the five percent income disregard) beginning on January 1, 2014. The law will have the greatest impact on low-income childless adults – a group that has been largely excluded from the Medicaid program under …
Read more >
Cover Michigan Survey 2011
In 2009, the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) commissioned the first Cover Michigan Survey, to gain insight into the issue of health care access in Michigan. The report was released in March 2010. Now, this 2011 report presents the findings of the Cover Michigan Survey conducted in 2010, which was designed to delve deeper into key questions raised …
Read more >
Guide to state requirements and policy choices in the Affordable Care Act
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) requires the establishment of significant new state-level structures by the year 2014. This document summarizes major ACA requirements and policy choices for states between now and 2014.* The two most significant ACA requirements for state implementation between now and 2014 are: To establish health insurance exchanges for individuals and small …
Read more >