NOTICE OF WRITTEN COMMENT PERIOD
Notice is hereby given that the public and interested parties are invited to submit written comments to
the Commission on the following topic:
Suggestions for revenue enhancements in rate year 2025 due to savings over administrative target
WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE QUESTIONS OUTLINED BELOW ON THE AFOREMENTIONED STAFF PRESENTATION SHALL BE SUBMITTED TO: HSCRC.PAYMENT@MARYLAND.GOV ON OR BEFORE OCTOBER 25, 2024.
Should any revenue enhancements due to savings over our administrative target be:
- Targeted to an increase in the Set Aside? If yes, what should the total increase be and should there be any consideration for allocating additional funding separately for relatively efficient hospitals and hospitals that are currently undergoing a financial hardship, i.e., please indicate separate amounts for both sets of hospitals if you support this approach?
- Applied in a broad based manner for costs drivers that are not currently funded in rates? If yes, what are the cost drivers that all hospitals are experiencing and what is a reasonable total allotment for the system, i.e., please include a system wide cost estimate and support for that assertion?
- Applied in a broad base manner for new costs that would be accretive to the goals of the TCOC Model? If yes, what are the costs that all hospitals could incur to improve Model performance (quality outcomes, utilization management, population health)?
Advancing Innovation in Maryland (AIM) – Call for IdeasThe Maryland Department of Health (MDH) and the Health Services Cost Review Commission (HSCRC) are seeking
seeking ideas in three categories that will improve patient care and health outcomes, advance equity, and promote affordability. The Advancing Innovation in Maryland (AIM) contest will award cash prizes to individuals and organizations with ideas to promote improved population health and reduce overall health care costs for the state. The goal is to surface ideas to support Maryland’s unique health care model, which incentivizes better health, prevention of complications, and more efficient care.
Further details and submission requirements located
here.
Submissions are due Friday, October 25th at 5:00 PM EST.
Maryland Emergency Department Wait Time Reduction Commission
House Bill 1143 took effect on July 1, 2024 and established the Maryland Emergency Department Wait Time Reduction Commission. The Commission will develop strategies and initiatives to recommend to State and local agencies, hospitals, and health care providers that address factors throughout the health care system that contribute to increased emergency department wait times. HSCRC staffs the Commission and will report on its activites, findings, and recommendations by November 1, 2025, and November 1, 2026. The bill terminates June 30, 2027.
Annual Filing Modernization Project
HSCRC is requesting hospital participation with the Annual Filing Modernization Project. For more information related to the upcoming surveys and workgroups, please visit the Annual Filing Modernization subgroup page.
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Training
The HSCRC is requiring that all hospitals submit patient-level Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) data beginning October 1, 2025. To ensure that this data is collected in a culturally competent manner, please register and attend the asynchronous SOGI training session. For more information, please
visit the Workgroups homepage and scroll down to the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity subgroup section.
The State of Maryland is leading a transformative effort to improve care and reduce the growth in healthcare spending. On January 1, 2014, the State of Maryland and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) entered into a new initiative to modernize Maryland’s unique all-payer rate-setting system for hospital services. As the State’s hospital rate-setting authority, the HSCRC plays a vital role in the implementation of this innovative approach to health reform.
This initiative replaced Maryland’s 36-year-old Medicare waiver and allowed Maryland to adopt new and innovative policies aimed at reducing per capita hospital expenditures and improving patient health outcomes. The All-Payer Model successfully reduced costs to purchasers of care—businesses, patients, insurers, Medicare, and Medicaid—and began to improve the quality of the care that patients receive both inside and outside of the hospital. Since 2014, the State, in close partnership with providers, payers, and consumers, has made significant progress toward this modernization effort.
Under the new “Total Cost of Care Model,” which began in January 2019 and builds upon the successes of the All-Payer Model, Maryland will progressively transform care delivery across the health care system with the objective of improving health and quality of care. At the same time, the State's growth in Medicare spending must be maintained lower than the national growth rate. The Total Cost of Care Model will give the State flexibility to tailor initiatives to the Maryland health care context, and encourage providers to drive health care innovation. The Total Cost of Care Model encourages continued Care Redesign, and provides new tools and resources for primary care providers to better meet the needs of patients with complex and chronic conditions and help Marylanders achieve better health status overall. Terms of the agreement can be found
here, and additional details on the Model can be found on the
Modernization tab.
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