Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Calif. Attorney General Delays Hospital Deal Decision
The San Jose Mercury News: Attorney General Kamala Harris Delays Decision On Daughters Of Charity Deal
California Attorney General Kamala Harris on Wednesday said her office will delay for two weeks a decision she was expected to announce Thursday on a proposed deal between the struggling Daughters of Charity Health System and a New York-based hedge fund. (Seipel, 11/19)
The Baltimore Sun: Funding In Jeopardy For 1,000 New Jobs Proposed By Hospitals After The Unrest
A widely supported program to create 1,000 mostly entry-level jobs at Johns Hopkins and other local hospitals was dealt a blow Wednesday when state regulators recommended against letting the facilities raise their prices to fund it. Administrators at Hopkins and other hospitals conceived the program to address the hopelessness expressed by many in Baltimore's toughest neighborhoods during the unrest of April. (Cohn, 11/18)
The Des Moines Register: UnityPoint To Help Launch Health-Insurance Carrier
Iowa’s largest hospital-and-clinic system plans to start selling health insurance. UnityPoint Health announced Tuesday that it is joining forces with a Minnesota-based company, HealthPartners, to sell Medicare Advantage policies, starting in fall 2016. Medicare Advantage policies are private plans that seniors can choose instead of traditional Medicare coverage. (Leys, 11/17)
The Associated Press: Florida Hospitals Say They Spent $1.5B In Charity Care
Florida hospitals paid for $1.5 billion in health costs for uninsured and underinsured patients last year. The Florida Hospital Association released its annual report Wednesday, noting it provided inpatient care for 2.7 million people and treated 9.5 million patients in emergency rooms in 2014. Hospitals contributed a total of $4.2 billion in community benefits, including charity care. Hospitals also spent about $22.4 million to ensure they are prepared to for emergencies, including hurricanes or outbreaks such as Ebola. (11/18)
Minnesota Public Radio: Hospitals Finding Ways To Fight Delirium In Elderly Patients
Delirium is a common and a terrifying experience for elderly hospital patients and their loved ones. But the hallucinations, paranoia and other symptoms can be avoided. More than two dozen Minnesota hospitals have new programs to help. (Benson, 11/19)
WBUR: A Tale Of 2 Hospital Visits: How The Cost Of Care Can Vary Dramatically Depending On Where You’re Treated
The stomach cramp and nausea began one hot Friday evening in August, midway through a vacation on Martha’s Vineyard. The next morning, nearly doubled over in pain, a patient who we’ll call “Nancy” walked gingerly into the emergency room at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Nancy is a 55-year-old former nurse who would prefer not to use her real name because she works with the hospitals in this story. Even Nancy, who spends hours every day focused on health care costs, would gasp when she saw the bill for this visit. (Bebinger, 11/18)
Also, Modern Healthcare examines these trends -
Modern Healthcare: How Hospitals Are Prepping For Medicare's Mandatory Bundled-Pay Test
Hospitals in dozens of U.S. markets are now cramming for a compulsory test of Medicare payment reform. The hardest part may be that their success relies on the work of partners they aren't used to collaborating with. Hospitals in 67 metropolitan areas learned this week they have no choice but to accept a single sum for the cost of care during and 90 days after patients visit the hospital for hip and knee replacement surgery, a strategy known as bundled payments. (Evans, 11/18)
Modern Healthcare: Stronger Economy Drives More Nursing Turnover, Higher Wages
A stronger economy is increasing employee turnover rates at hospitals, particularly among nurses, and putting additional pressure on wages that are already straining hospital balance sheets. Hospital operators around the country have been reporting increases in staffing costs, including contract labor, in the third quarter. Nursing positions have been most in demand, and the need is compounded by the increased patient volume that many health systems are seeing under the Affordable Care Act. (Kutscher, 11/17)
