Authors: National Council of Urban Indian Health

Publication Year: Summer 2024

Keywords: COVID-19, Health Care Access, Medicaid/Medicare, Telehealth

Abstract:
This report serves as an update to NCUIH’s previous reporting on recent trends in third-party billing. This report focuses on the impact of Medicaid reimbursement rates on urban Indian organizations (UIOs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, this report contains:

1. Background on Medicaid’s role in upholding the federal trust responsibility during the COVID-19 pandemic,
2. Statistical analysis of Medicaid reimbursement rates
3. Policy Analysis with recommendations for future public health emergencies

Key Findings:

UIOs, like many safety-net providers, were particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic, given their low operating margins before its onset.

1. For example, UIOs provided robust medical care, delivered vaccines, provided personal protective equipment (PPE), started food distribution programs, and provided telehealth services to patients during the PHE.
2. The heightened demand for these services put an unprecedented strain on already underfunded UIO facilities and their staff.
3. This created new challenges in addressing community health needs, in addition to numerous pre-existing facilities needs. Despite UIOs providing additional services and growing programs to serve the urban American Indian and Alaska Native community during the COVID-19 pandemic, reimbursement rates did not significantly rise, exacerbating the financial pressures on these vital healthcare providers after the end of the PHE.

File Download:

Source: Link to Original Article.

Type of Resource: NCUIH products (infographs, urban data reports, etc..)