All of Maryland's hospital CEOs have signed a letter asking Governor Hogan to reduce the sick tax, a top priority for hospitals in the coming legislative session. The letter calls the $35 million spend-down "a critical first step in the elimination of a tax" that increases hospital bills and artificially inflates health care spending in the state, and notes that eliminating the tax will "contribute to our shared efforts" to achieve the goals of the new enhanced total cost of care model. 

The American Hospital Association invites hospitals and health systems partnering with community organizations to help residents be healthier to apply for the AHA NOVA Award. Previous award recipients have organized a health and wellness alliance to fight childhood asthma, operated a mobile medical clinic to serve lower-income children, and worked with community partners to expand dental care - emergency and preventive - for uninsured residents. Visit www.aha.org/nova to learn more.Applications are due Dec. 8, and awards will be presented at the 2018 AHA Leadership Summit in San Diego.

The Maryland Health Care Commission has made available its Announcement for Grant Applications for the Telehealth Round Six - Telehealth for Medication Management and Reconciliation. The commission will fund, on a competitive basis, a single application over an 18-month period to implement and test a telehealth use case that optimizes medication management and reconciliation through telehealth to improve care coordination via a certified electronic health record integrated with the Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients. The goal of the grant is to advance pharmacist support to aid Maryland health care professionals in managing therapeutic regimens for their patients, facilitate medication compliance/adherence for patients, and provide educational information to patients and their caregivers regarding their medications. The grant also aims to test the availability of a reconciled medication list made available to care teams through CRISP. Funding is for a total of $150,000 and requires a 1:1 financial match rate. A Letter of Intent from the prime applicant is appreciated by 5 p.m. on December 11, 2017, via email to angela.evatt@maryland.gov. Grant applications are due to MHCC by 5 p.m. on January 15, 2018. More information is available here.

The Medicare Part A deductible for inpatient hospital services will increase by $24 in calendar year 2018, to $1,340, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced last week. The Part A daily coinsurance amounts will be $335 for days 61-90 of hospitalization in a benefit period; $670 for lifetime reserve days; and $167.50 for days 21-100 of extended care services in a skilled nursing facility in a benefit period. The monthly Part A premium, paid by beneficiaries who have fewer than 40 quarters of Medicare-covered employment and certain people with disabilities, will increase by $9 in CY 2018, to $422. The standard monthly premium for people with Medicare Part B will be $134 for 2018, the same amount as in 2017. Some beneficiaries who were held harmless against Part B premium increases in prior years will have a Part B premium increase in 2018, but the premium increase will be offset by the increase in their Social Security benefits next year, according to CMS. Also, the Department of Health and Human Services last week announced the Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program federal medical assistance percentages for fiscal year 2019. The notice provides state and territorial FMAP percentages for Medicaid, CHIP and disaster-recovery FMAP adjustments. The FMAPs are effective Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2019.