Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Lifts Rule Limiting Competition Among Its Members

The Wall Street Journal: Blue Health Insurers Drop Revenue Rule That Limited Competition 
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said it dropped a rule that limited competition among its member insurers, moving to implement a key aspect of an antitrust settlement the companies reached last year with customers. The settlement hasn’t won final approval from the federal judge presiding over the litigation, so it isn’t being fully implemented. But last Tuesday the group of insurers formally lifted a cap on the share of the members’ revenue that could come from business not under a Blue Cross Blue Shield brand, one of the moves it had promised under the settlement. (Mathews, 5/3)

Modern Healthcare: Democrats Want Health Insurers To Waive COVID-19 Treatment Fees
Democratic lawmakers are pressing three major insurers on their decisions to reinstate cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatments, arguing they are putting "profits before the wellbeing of the people of this country." In letters addressed to the CEOs of Anthem, UnitedHealth and Aetna, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and nine other lawmakers urged the insurers to waive cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatment, arguing the companies have weathered the pandemic better than "many other" small and large companies. (Hellmann, 5/3)

KHN: Covered California Says Health Insurance Just Got Too Cheap To Ignore 
If you are uninsured because health coverage seemed too expensive the last time you looked, it’s time to look again. A new federal law could make it a whole lot cheaper to buy your own insurance if you don’t get coverage through an employer or a government insurance program such as Medicare or Medicaid. (Wolfson, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: How Insurers Are Working To Bridge Racial Gaps In Maternal Care
Year after year, it's the same story: The maternal mortality rate rises and the number of deaths among pregnant women of color are disproportionately high. In the U.S., Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. Even in low-risk pregnancies, Black women are more likely to receive a C-section. Such procedures have been associated with increased rates of infection, bleeding and hospital readmissions. And infants born to Black women are more than twice as likely to die before reaching their first birthday compared to white babies. (Tepper, 5/4)

In other health care industry news —

New Orleans Times-Picayune: NAMI Reopening After COVID, Director Sees Increased Need
As the National Alliance for Mental Illness-St. Tammany jumps into Mental Health Awareness month, organization Executive Director Nick Richard is betting that the 2021 campaign has the attention of more people than ever. The impact of the pandemic has taken a troubling toll on mental health with issues including isolation, financial stress and anxiety. The full scope of these effects will likely remain unknown for several years, Richard said. But because such a cross-section of society experienced mental-health issues for the first time during 2020, Richard sees a unique opportunity for NAMI to offer widespread understanding and education through its annual awareness campaign. (Keiger, 5/3)

Philadelphia Inquirer: During The Pandemic, Telehealth Helped Faraway Family Members Attend Seniors’ Medical Visits. Doctors Want That To Stay
As COVID-19 cases drop, it’s time to consider which pandemic changes are worth keeping. Walke, who is chief of geriatric medicine at University of Pennsylvania, thinks incorporating distant family members into geriatric care through telemedicine is one of them. “I’ve had some families who now prefer video,” she said. Caregivers can add important information about, say, falls that patients may try to downplay. Walke thinks it’s important to see patients in person at least once a year. “There’s no substitute for my being able to listen to your heart or being able to look into your ears and eyes,” she said. But, some families may find that a combination of in-person and telehealth visits works best for them. Patients could also go to the doctor’s office and family members could join virtually. (Burling, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: Questions Remain On Post-COVID Outpatient Care Outlook
While just about everyone expects that healthcare will continue to push into outpatient settings, whether the pandemic is strengthening that trend depends on whom you talk to. “Yes, the outpatient growth was already booming prior to the pandemic. To assuage consumer concerns, there is a need for an increased number of ambulatory settings today,” Earl Swensson Associates, an architectural firm based in Nashville, said in its response to Modern Healthcare’s 2021 Construction & Design Survey. (Butcher, 5/4)

The Boston Globe: In Longwood Medical Area, Jobs Were Being Added About Twice As Fast As In The State Overall
Longwood Medical Area has come a long way from the days when Boston Children’s Hospital set up shop on Huntington Avenue with 60 beds and a herd of cows to provide kids with tuberculosis-free milk. That was back in 1882. Today, these 213 acres where Brookline, Mission Hill, and the Fenway converge are home to 22 institutions that collectively employ 68,000 workers. That number, which includes contract workers such as researchers, grew by about 15,000 from 2008 through 2019, according to a report by the UMass Donahue Institute. That’s a growth rate of nearly 30 percent, or roughly twice the pace of the state’s overall employment growth. (Chesto, 5/3)

Also —

Stat: Critics Say Colonoscopy Study Exploited Black Patients 
At a time when medical researchers are under pressure to increase diversity in clinical trials, a Johns Hopkins study is sparking outrage among some physicians because of its large number of Black patients. The controversy has stoked concerns that the institution infamous for its role in the Henrietta Lacks story may have once again exploited marginalized people for medical research. The university denies any wrongdoing and instead said it was simply providing a service to its local community, which has a mostly Black population. (St. Fleur, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: Kaiser Sees Success With Data-Driven Program To Reduce Homelessness
It’s been a little more than two years since Kaiser Permanente announced plans to address the problem of chronic homelessness through the use of data analytics. In an effort to better understand the dynamics of homelessness and offer more timely interventions for at-risk patients, Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser announced in 2019 it was investing $3 million over three years to use data analytics to provide real-time counts of homeless individuals within a community month-over-month. (Ross Johnson, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: SNF Patients Could Be Discharged Earlier Without Compromising Quality, Study Says
A May 3 Health Affairs study finds patients of skilled nursing facilities can be safely transitioned to home care earlier in the recovery period, indicating the facilities are not used efficiently. While the study was limited in its ability to tell providers how much to reduce SNF use by and whether earlier discharge affected patients' "functional recovery," it highlights that reducing the length of stays has not caused worse health outcomes for patients receiving post-acute care. (Gellman, 5/3)

The Advocate: Should Louisiana Doctors Have Non-Competes? Supporters Lose First Round Of Legislative Battle
Ochsner Health System lost the first round of a legislative battle with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, physicians groups and other hospitals over the use of non-compete provisions in doctors’ contracts Monday, with a Louisiana House panel advancing two proposals aimed at restricting the practice. The House Commerce Committee advanced House Bill 483, by Covington Republican Rep. Mark Wright, to restrict the use of non-compete agreements for physicians. The bill is backed by the Louisiana State Medical Society and the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady, which oversees Our Lady of the Lake, among others. (Karlin, 5/3)