On July 2, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that the Obama administration will provide an additional year before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin.
“We recognize that the vast majority of businesses that will need to do this reporting already provide health insurance to their workers, and we want to make sure it is easy for others to do so. We have listened to your feedback. And we are taking action,†said Mark J. Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Treasury Department.
Archived California Healthcare News
CMS Places Moratorium On New Home Health Providers In Chicago Area
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Jul 29, 2013
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced a moratorium on new home healthcare and ambulance services launching in the greater Chicago area.
The new enrollments cover all home health vendors for participation in the Medicare, Medicaid or Children\'s Health Insurance programs. It was enacted as of today, July 30, and will last for at least six months. It could be extended another six months at the discretion of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CMS.
Leapfrog Places Price Tag On Medical Errors
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Jul 29, 2013
Every hospital has committed a medical error, almost certainly in the past day or two. The Leapfrog Group can now affix a pricetag to such mishaps.
The Washington-based healthcare quality organization has studied the 26 hospital safety measures for which national data is available and used the letter grades it assigns to hospitals to assign costs per patient at those hospitals.
High-Risk Insured At Crossroads
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Jul 29, 2013
State high-risk insurance pools around the country provide coverage to approximately 220,000 people who have medical problems and are often turned down for traditional policies.
When the federal health law takes effect in January, insurers can no longer deny coverage to people who have medical problems and some of the state high-risk programs will disappear. But experts worry that enrollees, for whom reliable health care is critical, may not get much help finding a new plan or adequate notice about the changes coming.
In Brief: Northwestern Settles Fraud Charge; Walgreens Rebrands Retail Clinics
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Jul 29, 2013
Northwestern Settles Cancer Research Fraud Allegations
Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. government $2.93 million to settle claims that it engaged in cancer research fraud.
DHCS Suspends Pay To 16 Providers
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Jul 24, 2013
A recent merger of the Medi-Cal program overseeing alcohol and drug treatment for tens of thousands of beneficiaries into the Department of Health Care Services has led to a wide-ranging investigation into provider fraud.
Last week, the DHCS suspended Medi-Cal payments to 16 clinics, and has referred them to California Attorney General Kamala Harris\'s office for potential sanctions, including criminal prosecution. A spokesperson for Harris did not respond to a request seeking comment.
Judge Tosses El Camino Pay Cap
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Jul 24, 2013
A Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge has thrown out a voter-approved initiative to cap the pay of executives at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, and it appears unlikely the matter will be litigated further.
CHA Issues ACA Enrollment Guide
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Jul 24, 2013
The California Hospital Association has ramped up efforts among its membership to guarantee that the state\'s millions of uninsured residents are able to obtain coverage.
The CHA has published a manual, “Helping Individuals Obtain Health Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act,†that has been sent to all of its member hospitals, about 300 in all. It provides step-by-step information on how to enroll uninsured patients who show up in their emergency rooms or other sites seeking care. It includes a detailed breakdown of the California Healthcare Eligibility Enrollment and Retention System, or CalHEERS, the online portal that will determine whether individuals are eligible for enrollment in Medi-Cal or the Covered California private healthcare exchange.
In Brief: Anthem Leaves Small Business Exchange; Kaiser Links Preventative Care, HPV Vaccinations
Free
Jul 24, 2013
Anthem Pulls Out Of Small Business Exchange
Anthem Blue Cross of California has opted to not participate in the insurance exchange that would cater to small businesses.
Medicare Accelerates Quality Initiative
Free
Jul 22, 2013
Medicare is accelerating plans to peg a portion of doctors’ pay to the quality of their care.
The changes would affect nearly 500,000 physicians working in groups. The federal health law requires large physician groups to start getting bonuses or penalties based on their performance by 2015, with all doctors who take Medicare patients phased into the program by 2017.
Uncompensated Care Jumps In Iowa
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Jul 22, 2013
Iowa\'s hospitals provided $1.5 billion in community benefits to the Hawkeye State residents in 2012, included an increasing level of charity care.
Altogether, charity care benefits totaled $641.2 million in 2012, up 10% from 2011, according to the Iowa Hospital Association, which represents 118 acute care facilities statewide. Bad debt expenses at cost totaled $405.9 million.
Politics Become Part Of Indiana Health Insurance Exchange
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Jul 22, 2013
Politics has been injected into how the health plans will be offered on Indiana\'s health insurance exchange when it opens for business on Oct. 1.
The Indiana Department of Insurance announced last week that individual rates would increase a staggering 72 percent via the plans offered through the exchanges, from $250 a month to $570 a month starting in 2014.
In Brief: Michigan Blues Name New Medical Homes; Michigan Medicaid Bill Gains Some Traction
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Jul 22, 2013
Michigan Blues Expands Medical Home Program
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has designated more than 1,200 medical practices throughout the state as patient-centered medical homes.
HealthCare Partners, PrimeCare Are Pioneer ACOs No More
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Jul 17, 2013
The pioneer experience has prompted HealthCare Partners and PrimeCare to circle the wagons.
The two Southern California medical groups were among the nine providers that are dropping out of the Pioneer ACO demonstration project operated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Torrance-based Healthcare Partners confirmed the exit by issuing a formal statement on Wednesday. Officials with the Ontario-based PrimeCare did not immediately to requests for comment, but their exit was confirmed by their absence from an interactive map on the CMS website listing the Pioneer ACO members and other published reports.
Gunshot Hospitalizations Plunge Statewide
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Jul 17, 2013
Despite grim reports of mass shootings and rising purchases of firearms in the U.S., a new report by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development indicates the number of patients treated at California hospitals for gunshot wounds has plummeted by more than two-thirds since the 1990s.
In Brief: USC Acquires Verdugo Hills Medical Center; Five Fired In Cedars-Sinai Breach
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Jul 17, 2013
USC Purchaes Verdugo Hills Medical Center
The University of Southern California closed a deal on Tuesday to purchase the 158-bed Verdugo Hills Medical Center in Glendale for an undisclosed sum.
Minnesota Trying To Address Healthcare Shortfalls Among Latinos
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Jul 15, 2013
When Samuel Alcocer arrived at the reception desk of a North Minneapolis clinic with a swollen cheek in 1996, he was desperate for relief.
At the time, Alcocer, a native of Santa Cruz in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, spoke no English. No one at the clinic spoke Spanish. So he and the receptionist resorted to gestures, to little avail.
New Hospital In Rural Missouri Faces Challenges
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Jul 15, 2013
A 30-second television ad shows off Poplar Bluff’s sparkling new medical center as a narrator says, “Welcome … to the future of healthcare.â€
Robotic surgery systems. High-tech diagnostic equipment. State-of-the-art birthing suites. Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center, which opened earlier this year, was built at a cost of $173 million by its parent, for-profit Health Management Associates Inc. of Naples, Fla.
Wisconsin Study Suggests Hospitals Lose Money On Observation Care
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Jul 15, 2013
A new study conducted by clinicians at the 566-bed University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison suggest that hospitals are losing money by placing some patients into observation care – a practice often spurred by fear of Medicare payment clawbacks.
The number of hospital patients held in observation care has increased in recent years as the scrutiny from recovery audit contractors, or RACs, has increased. RACs often focus on hospital stays of 48 hours or less, claiming such patients should have been treated on an outpatient basis, where the cost of providing care is far less.
In Brief: Illinois Blues, Walgreens Team Up To Provide ACA Information; Six Midwest Hospitals Make U.S. News List
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Jul 15, 2013
Illinois Blues, Walgreens Team Up To Provide Information On ACA
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and pharmacy retailing giant Walgreens have teamed up to educate Illinois consumers regarding their options under the Affordable Care Act.
