Author: Patsy Crawford | Posted: 16. November 2012 05:04
In a November 14, 2012 press release, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced the receipt of 371 applications for the Race to the Top-District (RTT-D) competition. The applicants, representing more than 1,100 school districts across the country, will compete for a share of the $400 million RTT-D fund intended to support district-level plans to personalize learning, improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness, close achievement gaps, and prepare every student for college and career. [More]
Author: Tom Entrikin | Posted: 16. November 2012 05:00
The National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH) released a study on October 25 showing the potentially severe impact that not implementing Medicaid expansions may have on safety net hospitals over the period 2014-2019. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) originally mandated that states expand Medicaid eligibility in 2014 to legal residents with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, but the U.S. Supreme Court struck down that mandate on June 28, 2012. [More]
Author: Ryan Paiva | Posted: 9. November 2012 09:12
Sacramento, CA, November, 2012 – The California Department of Finance has awarded PCG Technology Consulting a contract to perform Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) services to the Financial Information System for California (FI$Cal) project. FI$Cal will be one of the largest and most complex ERP implementations ever engaged by a U.S. state or local government. The more than $650 million project is a major effort to modernize and reengineer the financial business operations of the state of California government on an enterprise-wide basis. [More]
Author: Tom Entrikin | Posted: 9. November 2012 04:03
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule in the Federal Register on November 6, 2012 on increases in Medicaid payment rates for primary care in calendar years 2013 and 2014 mandated under section 1202 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The final rule will be effective January 1, 2013. Section 1202 seeks to improve Medicaid recipients’ access to primary care practitioners before and during state Medicaid eligibility expansions in 2014. One hundred percent Medicaid federal financial participation (FFP) will be available in 2013 and 2014 on increases in Medicaid primary care payment rates up to Medicare Part B rates. [More]
Author: Sam Fish | Posted: 9. November 2012 03:59
On November 1, CMS issued a comprehensive final rule with comment period for Medicare’s payments for physician fees for 2013. Included in the rule is a new policy to pay a patient’s physician or practitioner to coordinate the patient’s care in the 30 days following a hospital or skilled nursing home stay. The Fact Sheet accompanying the rule, issued by CMS, indicates that the new policy is expected to ensure better continuity of care for the discharged patients and help reduce patient readmissions. [More]
Author: Patsy Crawford | Posted: 9. November 2012 03:56
An October 2012 White Paper published by the Council of Great City Schools (CGCS) addresses implementing the Common Core State Standards in urban school districts with diverse students and using Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to ensure that all students have an evidence-based system of instruction to assist them in achieving success. MTSS uses data-based problem-solving techniques to integrate academic and behavioral instruction and intervention. [More]
Author: Patsy Crawford | Posted: 9. November 2012 03:54
An October 2012 report published by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice (a supporter of school choice) concludes that significant increases in public school staffing have not resulted in improved student achievement. According to the report, the number of U.S. public K-12 students increased by 96 percent between FY 1950 and FY 2009, while the number of full-time equivalent school personnel increased by 386 percent. Of the school personnel, teachers increased by 252 percent, and administrators and other non-teaching staff increased by 702 percent. More recently, between FY 1992 and FY 2009, the number of students increased by 17 percent, teachers by 32 percent, and non-teaching personnel by 46 percent. [More]
Author: Ryan Paiva | Posted: 8. November 2012 07:03
PCG Education consultant Sue Gamm contributed to an October, 2012 paper by the Council of Great City Schools (CGCS) that addresses implementing the Common Core State Standards in urban school districts with diverse students and using Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to ensure that all students have an evidence-based system of instruction to assist them in achieving success. [More]
Author: Ryan Paiva | Posted: 7. November 2012 05:12
Harrisburg, PA, November 7, 2012 - Public Consulting Group’s Public Partnerships, LLC (PPL) was selected through a competitive bid process to provide financial management services for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare’s (DPW) statewide participant-directed programs. PPL is a nationally renowned expert firm in delivering financial management services to populations living at home in 22 state programs in the U.S. Public Consulting Group, a national management consulting firm with offices in Harrisburg, has been working in Pennsylvania for 15 years. Initially, PCG worked with twenty counties, helping them implement the Health Choices program, starting in 1998. [More]
Author: Ryan Paiva | Posted: 2. November 2012 09:44
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) awarded a contract to PCG Technology Consulting (PCG TC) to provide IT Project Planning Consulting Services to prepare a Feasibility Study Report (FSR) and Advance Planning Document (APD) for the Medicaid Eligibility Data System (MEDS) Modernization Project. Beginning this month, PCG TC will help DHCS explore options for replacing or enhancing MEDS – a complex system of applications, networks, and databases that was first developed in the 1970s to support delivery of health and welfare program services to CA beneficiaries. [More]
