Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Government Hasn't Started Recouping Relief Loans
Modern Healthcare: CMS Hasn't Started Garnishing Medicare Pay To Recoup $100 Billion In Loans
Hospitals that received COVID-19 relief loans from Medicare expected that CMS would cut off their fee-for-service reimbursement after four months, but as deadlines have passed the agency apparently hasn't started garnishing payments. State and national hospital associations, providers and consultants that work with providers said their reimbursements remain the same although CMS said it would begin recouping Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Program funds. In March and April, hospitals received more than 80% of the $100.3 billion in relief loans from CMS. (Cohrs, 9/1)
In other health industry news —
Boston Globe: Union’s Billboards Depict The Plight Of Home Care Workers During The Pandemic
Throughout the pandemic, the 100,000 home care workers in Massachusetts have been a largely invisible workforce, assisting older adults and people with disabilities behind closed doors. The workers, the majority of them women of color, many making close to the minimum wage and living in low-income communities hit hard by COVID-19, have to don protective equipment to bathe and dress and assist clients. Some of them never received hazard pay and have struggled to get the masks and gloves they need to do their jobs. Few have been publicly recognized for the essential work they do. (Johnston, 9/1)
Crain's Chicago Business: Chicago River North Redevelopment Getting Skilled Nursing Facility
A local nursing home operator wants to redevelop the vacant former headquarters of the American Library Association in River North into a medical rehabilitation and recovery center, according to a proposal announced by 42nd Ward Ald. Brendan Reilly. Oak Brook-based Restorative Care Institute plans to open a 98-bed skilled nursing facility at 50 E. Huron St., where it is seeking approval to overhaul the five-story former ALA building with three new floors and a glass exterior, project plans show. Reilly said in a newsletter to downtown residents that the company hopes to open the location by August 2022. (Ecker, 9/1)
CIDRAP: 19-Month Pandemic-Related Surgical Backlog In Ontario
Ontario, Canada, has an 84-week backlog of nonurgent surgeries delayed because of COVID-19 that will take 717 surgeries, 719 operating room hours, 265 hospital ward beds, and 9 intensive care unit (ICU) beds per week to clear, according to a time series modeling study published today in CMAJ. Researchers at the government agency Ontario Health identified the 19-month logjam after analyzing administrative data on historical surgical volumes and operating room productivity by surgery type and region and lengths of general-ward and ICU stays from Jan 1, 2017, to Jun 13, 2020. They also developed a deterministic, Microsoft Excel–based tool to help other regions plan to address their surgical backlogs. (Van Beusekom, 9/1)
Stat: What Amwell And GoodRx’s IPO Filings Tell Us About Telehealth Finances
Last week, two virtual care providers filed paperwork to go public — offering an unprecedented window into the long-murky finances of telemedicine. The illuminating S-1 regulatory filings came from Boston-based telehealth provider Amwell and GoodRx, the Los Angeles-based prescription drug coupons company that last year acquired the telemedicine company HeyDoctor. (Robbins, 9/2)
Stat: Questions About Precision Medicine? Stanford's Lloyd Minor Has Answers
Precision medicine is seen by many as the next frontier in health care. Stanford Medicine, among other institutions, is trying to lead the way. It recently established a strategic vision on how to focus on “keeping people healthy and providing care that is tailored to individual variations.” And its dean, Lloyd Minor, is the author of a new book: “Discovering Precision Health: Predict, Prevent, and Cure to Advance Health and Well-Being.” (9/2)
