Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Dramatic Drop In Donations Prompts Layoffs, Furloughs At Nonprofits
Dallas Morning News: ‘An Epic Moment But Not In A Good Way’: How COVID Is Causing Pain At Five Of The Nation’s Largest Nonprofits
Breast cancer nonprofit Susan G. Komen took extreme measures to survive the pandemic: laying off over 20% of its staff, cutting pay across the board, giving up its Dallas office and consolidating its nearly 60 entities into a single charity. “We’ve made more major decisions in the past 120 days than the previous 15 years,” said CEO Paula Schneider, whose agency brings in $90 million in annual revenue. “But we will be here at the other end.” (Walters, 8/28)
In other health industry news —
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Program Returns To Feed First Responders
As the battle against the coronavirus heads into its sixth month, doctors, nurses, police and other first responders are still pulling double duty — and their spirits are still being lifted with free food from caring and grateful community members. By mid-September, Feed the Frontline — believed to be the largest initiative of its kind in the state — will have distributed more than 114,000 free meals to health care workers and others across metro Atlanta who are immersed in the region’s COVID-19 response. (Badertscher, 8/28)
Modern Healthcare: How Medical Education Can Help Fight Racism
Perpetuation of assumptions that reinforce racist and culturally insensitive stereotypes, such as the notion that Black patients have a higher pain tolerance than whites, leading to misdiagnosed pain assessments that result in Black patients being less likely to receive pain medication. Or when medical book publisher Pearson in 2017 came under scrutiny for such passages as “Arabs may not request pain medicine but instead thank Allah for pain if it is the result of a healing medical procedure,” in its textbook, Nursing: A Concept-Based Approach to Learning. (Ross Johnson, 8/29)
Modern Healthcare: Geisinger Names New Health Plan CFO
Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger Health has named Mark McCullough chief financial officer and chief operations officer of Geisinger Health Plan. McCullough replaces Kurt Wrobel, who became president of the health plan in June after Steve Youso retired. McCullough was previously vice president and CFO at Humana Pharmacy Solutions, the pharmacy benefit manager owned by Medicare Advantage insurer Humana, where he was in charge of finance and operations, according to Geisinger. He also oversaw the insurer's mail-order operations. (Livingston, 8/28)
The fallout continues from the CDC's new guidelines —
Modern Healthcare: Providers Criticize 'Unrealistic' CMS COVID-19 Testing, Reporting Requirements
Hospitals and nursing homes are wary of CMS' new COVID-19 testing and reporting requirements and the fines associated with them, calling the plan "heavy handed" and "unrealistic. "CMS' Tuesday guidelines included a hefty $400 per day fine for noncompliance with the requirements, which could top more than $8,000 a case. The agency could also deny providers Medicare and Medicaid payments for new admissions. The added penalties is another move meant to protect nursing home residents and patients, CMS said. But providers are still facing limited supplies and staff, and claim the approach won't make it easier for them to care for patients. (Christ, 8/28)
Detroit Free Press: Michigan Hospitals To Keep Testing Asymptomatic Patients For COVID-19
Four Michigan hospital systems say they'll continue to test asymptomatic people who've had COVID-19 exposure. State health officials seek clarity from CDC. (Shamus, 8/28)
