Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
Surprise Medical Billing Problem Growing Worse
Insured patients are getting more surprise medical bills, and more expensive surprise medical bills, even as Congress attempts to tackle this problem. According to a new study, 42.8 percent of emergency department patients now receive surprise medical bills for out-of-network services, up from 32.3 percent in 2010, with those surprise bills rising from a mean of $220 in 2010 to $628 in 2016. Patients experience similar frustrations with inpatient visits, with surprise bills for out-of-network services arriving in the mailboxes of 42 percent of patients in 2016, up from 26.3 [...]
New Public Charge Rule Could Affect Immigrants, Providers
Legal immigrants may become reluctant to seek government-sponsored health care and providers may find themselves delivering more uncompensated care in the wake of the adoption of a new federal “public charge” regulation that seeks to define more narrowly the kinds of individuals who should be granted entry to the U.S. in the future. The new Department of Homeland Security regulation, while focused on applicants for entry into the U.S., could have the unintended effect of discouraging legal immigrants from enrolling in Medicaid, CHIP, and other government programs and even lead [...]
Can Medicare Feed its Way Out of Some Readmissions?
Feeding some Medicare patients after they are discharged from the hospital could reduce readmissions and save taxpayers millions, a new study has concluded. According to the new Bipartisan Policy Center report Next Steps in Chronic Care: Expanding Innovative Medicare Benefits, providing a limited number of free meals to certain Medicare patients could eliminate nearly 10,000 readmissions a year and save more than $57 million. Participating patients would be those with more than one of a limited number of chronic medical conditions and the meals would be for one week only. [...]
Update Patient Satisfaction Survey, Hospital Groups Suggest
The survey that asks patients about their satisfaction with their hospital experience should be revised, several hospital groups have declared. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey has become outdated and needs revision, according to the Federation of American Hospitals, the American Hospital Association, America’s Essential Hospitals, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the Catholic Health Association of America. According to the hospital groups, the 32-question HCAHPS survey needs to be updated to address more effectively matters involving value-based care, health care technology, patient priorities, and [...]
New Bill Would Address Social Determinants of Health
The federal government would provide funding to help address social determinants of health within Medicaid populations under a new bill introduced in the House of Representatives last week. According to a legislative summary prepared by one of the bipartisan bill’s sponsors, Economic and social conditions have a powerful impact on our health and wellness. Stable housing, reliable transportation and access to healthy foods are all factors that can make a difference in the prevention and management of many health conditions like diabetes, asthma and heart disease. Known as social determinants [...]