Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act - what this means for children's hospitals in Ohio

The Supreme Court of the United States issued their ruling on June 28,2012 declaring as constitutional the entire Affordable Care Act. 

Today’s ruling upholds several provisions that are important to children and children’s hospitals like Dayton Children’s -  including the requirement to cover children with preexisting conditions, coverage for dependents until age 26 and prohibition of annual and lifetime coverage limits; a temporary increase in Medicaid reimbursement to the Medicare levels for pediatricians, specialists and primary care providers and requiring states to maintain current Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage through September 2019; and initiatives to promote delivery system reforms, such as authorization of a pediatric accountable care organization demonstration projects and a program to provide enhanced Medicaid payment for coordination of care for individuals with chronic complex conditions.

Some of the Accountable Care Act provisions that have not taken effect around patient safety, quality, accessible and efficient health care are things that Dayton Children’s and the other Ohio Children’s Hospitals have been working on together for many years and today’s ruling secures the future of these important projects.

One such effort is The Ohio Children’s Hospitals’ Solutions for Patient Safety (OCHSPS) Hospital Engagement Network: OCHSPS is a nonprofit corporation established by eight Ohio children’s hospitals, including Dayton Children’s, to improve quality and safety in children’s hospitals statewide and is one of 26 Hospital Engagement Networks (HENs) funded under the Partnership for Patients initiative.  OCHSPS it is the only effort in the nation that is focused on pediatric care and reducing Medicaid costs associated with care for children. The network is funded through a $4.3 million contract over two years, with the option for a third year of funding at $1.6 million. Goals of the network include a 40% reduction in hospital acquired conditions (such as adverse drug events, falls, pressure ulcers and surgical site infections); a 20% reduction in hospital readmissions; and a 25% reduction in serious safety events by December 31, 2013. More information is available for everyone at  www.solutionsforpatientsafety.org.

While Congress and the White House continue to debate how to improve the nation’s health care system and reduce costs, all of us associated with Dayton Children’s urge leaders to make the health care needs of children a continued priority.  We believe there is still much work to be done to protect children who rely on Medicaid for health care coverage so they do not get lost as nearly one million uninsured adult Ohioans join the Medicaid population in 2013.   The number of new children enrolling in the system will be small, and yet the majority of Medicaid enrollees in Ohio will still be children.  Key to protecting children is continuing our efforts to work closely with Ohio lawmakers, Governor Kasich’s administration and, specifically, Ohio Office of Health Transformation Director Moody and Ohio Medicaid Director McCarthy to reform Ohio Medicaid while adhering ACA provisions.

Dayton Children’s and the other Ohio’s children’s hospitals support health care reform that ensures that all Ohio children have reasonable geographic and financial access to cost-effective, high quality, essential health care services.  Dayton Children’s remains committed to our mission of providing the highest quality of care to all our region’s children regardless of their ability to pay. 

For more information, contact: 
Marketing Communications 
Phone: 937-641-3666 
marketing@childrensdayton.org