Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Georgia Revenue Picture Continues to Improve
Deal: June revenue numbers up 6.2 percent
The state of Georgia’s net revenue in June rose $87.5 million or 6.2 percent as compared to net revenues in June 2010, Gov. Nathan Deal reported today. The strong finish to FY 2011 punctuates a year of improvement in which all 12 months showed positive growth in monthly net collections relative to FY 2010.
“We saw numbers that were above trend for 12 consecutive months in FY 2011,” Deal said. “The upward movement in Georgia’s revenue numbers is a clear indication that our state can and will advance as long as we continue the practice of maintaining a fiscally conservative state budget.”
The following changes within the various tax categories led to the overall revenue increase:
Individual Income Tax: Individual Income Tax collections for June 2011 reported an increase of $55 million or 7.5 percent, up from $728 million in June 2010 to $783 million in June 2011.
The following notable components within Individual Income Tax make up the overall increase:
• Individual estimated payments are up $14.5 million or 13.5 percent.
• Individual withholding payments are up $12 million or 1.8 percent.
• Individual refunds issued (net of voided checks) are down $(22.5) million or -27.7 percent.
• All other Individual Income Tax categories are up $6 million.
Sales and Use Tax: Sales and Use Tax reported an increase in net collections of $45 million or 11.4 percent, up from $394 million in June 2010 to $439 million in June 2011. Gross collections reported an increase of $46 million or 6.0 percent, up from $763 million in June 2010 to $809 million in June 2011. Net Refunds were up to $2 million or 88 percent when compared to the same month last year. The Local Sales Tax Distribution for June 2011 declined by $(1) million when compared to the sales tax distribution total of $367 million in June 2010.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Health Affairs Study: Volume Shapes Medicaid Spending - CQ
Health Affairs
Study: Volume Shapes Medicaid Spending
By Melissa Attias, CQ Staff
At a time when many governors are looking
to Medicaid as a place to cut costs, a study released Thursday found that among
some Medicaid patients, interstate variations in spending are shaped more by
the volume of care provided to patients than the prices paid for services.The analysis, appearing in the July issue of Health Affairs, was based on Medicaid spending data from 2001 to 2005, but it was limited to Medicaid-only beneficiaries who were disabled and receiving cash assistance since a uniform national eligibility standard exists for those recipients.
The study also found that some large states are spending twice as much per beneficiary as similarly-sized states.
In the 10 highest-spending states, per capita spending was $1,650 above the national average, with $1,186 or 72 percent due to the volume of services delivered. The 10 lowest-spending states, in contrast, spent $1,161 below the national average, with $672 or 58 percent attributed to volume.
The study also found that increased price and volume resulted in the most expensive care in the mid-Atlantic compared to other regions, while reduced price and volume produced the least expensive care in the south central region.
Lead author Todd P. Gilmer, a
Gilmer pointed to the example of
The study also found that higher numbers of primary care physicians were associated with lower hospital admission rates for diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and adult asthma.
And it found that when Medicaid patients saw their doctors more and doctors were paid higher rates for those visits, it likely led to fewer hospitalizations. That suggests, the researchers said, that increased primary care access may result in lower admissions rates.
As a result, the authors said that they expect that the provisions of the 2010 health care overhaul (PL 111-148, PL 111-152) aimed at increasing access to primary care, such as expanding the size of the primary care workforce and temporarily increasing physician payment rates under Medicaid, may reduce inpatient admissions. They also noted that the law’s planned 2014 expansion of the Medicaid program makes the findings particularly relevant, as states and the federal government face fiscal, administrative and system challenges regarding its implementation in the coming years.
“Our hope is that the results presented here will provide Medicaid programs with the tools to help them continually improve their ability to purchase cost-effective, high-quality care,” they wrote.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)