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News Clips
NCSL: (8/24) – The National Conference of State Legislators released a report highlighting strategies used by states to assess and address the impact of mergers and acquisitions on health care costs. These actions include legislation that would authorize various entities to approve transitions and oversee the consolidation process, implementing certificate of need (CON) laws, and implementing certificate of public advantage (COPA) programs.
Healthcare Finance: (8/23) – This article outlines CMS’ recently released information bulletin which details actions that states can take using existing Medicaid authorities to drive better health outcomes for nursing home residents. This guidance grew out of a comprehensive set of reforms
announced earlier this year and provides examples of current state Medicaid initiatives that support this work, which CMS expects will improve pay, training, and retention efforts.
Fierce Healthcare: (8/23) – This article highlights a recent study, which found primary care physicians need 26.7 hours per day to follow national recommended guidelines for preventive care, chronic disease care and acute care while seeing an average number of patients. The authors advocate for team-based care as a mechanism for decreasing the amount of physician time required per day for these critical tasks, but acknowledge ongoing models to widespread adoption of team-based models.
USC Schaeffer: (8/22) – This White Paper examined price changes across California hospital systems between 2012 and 2018, finding wide variance. Average price growth was high among for-profit systems (31 percent over the study period), while non-profit and public systems had lower average price growth (13 percent) than non-system hospitals (15 percent). These averages mask wide variation, with 8 hospitals increasing prices 127 percent overall, compared to prices decreasing in 13 of 37 health systems. The authors note that pricing differentials may stem from a variety of factors, including market competition and concentration, costs, and organizational mission. Further, the relatively slow price growth of non-profit systems may highlight that system participation sometimes helps limit cost growth through economies of scale in purchasing, administration and expensive medical technologies.
Fierce Healthcare: (8/18) – This article highlighted an American Hospital Association (AHA) report
which stated that patient acuity has increased over the past two years, likely a result of delayed or avoided care, driving increases in hospitals’ spending and highlighting the need for additional support from Congress. Specifically, the AHA calls for ending cuts to Medicare payments, extending or cementing waivers supporting patient care efficiency and access, extending health coverage subsidies, and preventing improper business practices from commercial payers’ such as burdensome administrative hurdles.
Fierce Healthcare: (8/16) – This article provides an overview of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recently released policy paper, which discourages states from adopting certificates of public advantage (COPA) legislation. Cautioning that hospital mergers permitted under these laws still bring many of the detrimental effects of consolidation, the FTC cites four recent hospital mergers allowed under COPA legislation and resulted in substantial price increases and reduced quality of care.
JAMA: (8/15) – This viewpoint highlights the important role of payment reform in achieving health equity, which must reconcile existing tensions between financial incentives and equity goals. The authors note the importance of participation by organizations serving marginalized communities, appropriate spending targets, quality measurements that include equity measures and social drivers, and carefully designed performance-based incentives so as to not undercut equity.
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