Wednesday, March 15, 2017
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The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s
analysis of the American Health Care Act finds it would reduce the federal deficit by $337 billion over the next decade. However, it would increase the number of uninsured by 24 million during that period, largely due to Medicaid changes, according to the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation. Both supporters and critics will find ammunition in this analysis, according to
Modern Healthcare. Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget offered a breakdown of the CBO’s findings. (
Modern Healthcare;
CRFB)
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HR1313, approved last week in a House committee on a party-line vote, has been generating significant attention. According to
Employee Health News, HR1313 clarifies that employers can obtain biometric information from employee family members who participate in incentive-based workplace wellness programs without violating the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). Other news outlets, including
STAT, are putting a more sinister spin on it, reporting that it would allow companies to require employees to undergo genetic testing. (
Employee Health News;
STAT)
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The Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the National Patient Safety Foundation will merge on May 1. The announcement was made Monday to kick off Patient Safety Awareness Week. The organizations say that together they will have a stronger impact on the patient safety movement. “I think the healthcare system is looking for somewhere to focus, and this uncertainty gives us a chance to focus on what really matters,” Derek Feeley, president and CEO of IHI, tells
FierceHealthcare. He will lead the combined organization under the IHI name. (
FierceHealthcare;
announcement)
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The American Health Care Act’s Achilles’ heel may be its treatment of Medicaid, especially once it hits the Senate,
The
Washington Post warns. “Medicaid is probably 50 times more complicated and controversial” than the ACA’s insurance marketplaces, Tom Scully, CMS administrator under President George W. Bush, tells the
Post. “It’s way more money, it affects far more people, it’s more about state-to-state spending and not just partisan politics.” (
The Washington Post)
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Innovation & Transformation
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A new website, www.planyourlifespan.org, helps older adults plan for predictable problems. “Many people plan for retirement,” says Lee Ann Lindquist, MD, MPH, MBA, chief of geriatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, which hosts the site. “They complete a will, assign powers of attorney, pick out a funeral home, and they think they’re done.” Other issues don’t get addressed, however. The site seeks to remedy that. “This isn’t end-of-life planning; it’s planning for the period before the end, when health problems become more common,” explains Kaiser Health News. (Kaiser Health News)
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ACOs generally focus only on traditional health care, but that’s a mistake in terms of both health outcomes and cost, say leaders from the Commonwealth Care Alliance (CCA), the nation’s first “social ACO.” In a Health Affairs Blog post, they discuss CCA’s approach and the need for social ACOs. “[C]reating a ‘culture of health’ through increased investment in social supports--combined with promotion of strong partnerships between traditional health care delivery and social services organizations in the form of fully financially integrated delivery systems--is the most important health care reform opportunity facing policymakers.” (Health Affairs Blog)
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Health care leaders’ failure to create an effective safety culture is a contributing factor to many types of adverse events, according to a Joint Commission Sentinel Event Database alert issued earlier this month. The Commission called on health care leaders to develop a culture of safety at their organizations. The alert contained 11 tenets. The first: “Absolutely crucial is a transparent, non-punitive approach to reporting and learning from adverse events, close calls and unsafe conditions.” (
Fierce Healthcare;
alert)
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Despite targeted guidelines and fear of antibiotic resistance, inappropriate use of broad-spectrum antibiotics to treat children with pneumonia remains common, according to research published in
Pediatrics. But some evidence suggests that stewardship efforts are starting to improve adherence to evidence-based prescribing practices. (
Medscape Medical News;
Pediatrics)
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Health care has become even less affordable, even for the insured, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey. Compared with 2015, larger percentages of people with health insurance say they have a difficult time affording their premiums, deductibles, copays and prescription drugs. The survey also found that 29 percent of Americans report problems paying medical bills; in this cohort, 73 percent report cutting back spending on food, clothing or basic household items. (
Kaiser Family Foundation)
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Chen to get involved in CHS: Chinese billionaire Tianqiao Chen, the largest shareholder of the struggling Community Health Systems, indicated Monday that his passive investment could turn activist,
Modern Healthcare reports. According to Reuters, Chen intends to engage with CHS’s management team regarding business operations, including its turnaround strategy. (
Modern Healthcare;
Reuters)
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Aloha, health! Hawaii remains the home of the happiest and healthiest people in the United States, according to the Gallup/Healthways Well-Being Index. It’s followed by Alaska, South Dakota, Maine, Colorado and Vermont. The five states ranked lowest? Arkansas, Indiana, Oklahoma, Kentucky and, at the bottom, West Virginia. (
announcement)
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A recent one-hour webinar from the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative,
Beyond Projects & Programs: 5 Steps to Patient-Centered Culture Change, offers concrete insights into what it takes for a practice to be patient-centered and what it takes to cultivate and maintain a patient-centered organizational culture. (
PCPCC)
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MarketVoices...quotes worth reading
“If enacted, this bill would force Americans to choose between access to affordable healthcare and keeping their personal genetic and health information private.”--Derek Scholes, director of science policy for the American Society of Human Genetics
and
"Without such legislation, “the future of workplace wellness programs are at risk.”--Allison Klausner, chair of the American Benefits Council’s Policy Board of Directors
both discussing HR 1313--the “Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act”--in
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Copyright 2009-2017,
H2R Minutes
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