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Administrator’s Bi-Weekly Review for Year ending May 13th, 2023
Continued Dedicated Service to Our Community
Administrator’s Bi-Weekly Review
For Year Ending May 13th – Plus “COVID UPDATE #83”
May 11th marks the official end of the pandemic and all of its reporting requirements (unless there are “clustered outbreaks”). So this 83rd biweekly Covid Update will serve as my last one for this pandemic, and hopefully for some time before the next one. Morris County had five reported positive cases in April and only two through the 10th of May, so we can safely say that those nominal numbers are truly not worthy of a further public reporting requirement. For the entire three year plus pandemic, Morris County suffered a reported 33 deaths stemming from COVID, and the 1,777 positive reported cases.
Some significant changes can be expected for our new health plan being assembled for the July 1st renewal period. Look for new optimal out of pocket savings opportunities if you choose to utilize locally delivered care through any of the services and physicians which MCH bills for (including Dr. Samani). We hope the design of the payment terms will be much more understandable and easier for our Third Party Administrator to properly process our claims. Open enrollment will begin on June 7th and go through the week of 6-12-2023.
With the end of reporting for COVID activity, there are also many pandemic driven “reimbursement modifications” that will also be retired. Considerable lobbying is being done at mostly the Federal level to extend some of these perks a few more months, but most are ending cut and dry. A big one still under review regards the number of Medicaid eligible beneficiaries that was elevated during the pandemic and is now being retracted. We’re anxious to see how the final rulings play out over those discussions. Another big one for us is the reinstatement of the three required acute patient days prior to a patient being eligible for a skilled bed admission. I’ll confirm where that lands in my next report.
Business has stayed steady over the past two weeks, with a slight decline on the inpatient side. We do not wish our services on anyone, but glad we are here for those that require our diagnosis and care. Thanks for the support and feedback on how we can further support your needs. Have a great second half of May and this glorious time of year!
CEO, Kevin Leeper
