WH

On 7.3.15 Sophia Yan of CNNMoney reports:

Aetna (AET) will acquire all outstanding shares of Humana (HUM) for a combination of cash and stock, at roughly $230 per Humana share, according to a joint statement. That's 23% higher than Humana's closing price on Thursday <7.2.15>.

The new company will have more than 33 million members, and bring in estimated revenue of about $115 billion per year, with 56% coming from government-sponsored programs such as Medicare.

"This combination will allow us to continue to invest in excellent service for our members and strengthen our partnerships with providers to deliver high quality care at an affordable price," said Mark Bertolini, Aetna's chairman and CEO.

WIM 

With all due respect to Mr. Bertolini's mollifying words, it is hard to imagine how having just four payers (Aetna/Humana, CIGNA, BCBS and UnitedHealth) in control of the national health insurance market can be good for healthcare consumers or providers.

See related story: Profit Plunge for Florida's HMOs - SFBJ 

WH

Joanne Pohl, Debra Barksdale and Kitty Werner, in a Health Affairs Blog post dated July 1, 2015, assert:

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), 16.4 million people are now enrolled for health care coverage. But we have yet to see the same sorts of increases in medical school graduates entering primary care. The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis (HRSA) predicts primary care shortages as high as 20,400 physicians by 2020.

However, we have seen large increases in NP graduates each year. We must, therefore, eliminate the barriers to NPs practicing to the fullest extent of their training. Only then will the nation reap the full benefit of expanded access to quality primary care services and a reduction in unnecessary costs to the health care system.

WIM 

Despite the lofty goals of healthcare reform, we've yet to see a true bending of the cost curve with better outcomes. Many cynical practitioners see the ACA, payment reform, the HITECH Act etc. as merely a rearrangement of the Titanic's deck chairs. With healthcare's future often perceived as a zero sum game, it's doubtful that the majority of MDs and DOs agree with the authors (two of whom are NPs, while the third is an NP advocate).

WH

In a July 1, 2015 Fierce Health IT post, Katie Dvorak reports on a recent HIMSS survey where 68 percent of respondents stated there had been an attack on their facility recently. Meanwhile, 46 percent reported the attack was due to negligence on the part of someone working within the organization.

WIM 

While professionals in the healthcare industry say cybersecurity has grown as a business priority at their organizations, a large amount also admit that their facilities have seen a significant security incident recently. The need for risk management strategies, controls and safeguards as well as cybersecurity insurance has never been more clear.

See the HIMSS Executive Summary HERE>>