Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare Experts Tell Congress Hospitals Aren't Failing, Despite Alarm
Stat: Hospitals Are Not Crumbling, Medicare Experts Say
Hospitals’ financial situations are not nearly as dire as industry groups are making them out to be, Medicare policy experts are telling Congress. Profit margins hit all-time highs in 2021, and almost $200 billion of taxpayer subsidies provided hospitals with ample cushion to get through the worst of the pandemic, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission said in its newest report. (Herman, 3/20)
Modern Healthcare: HHS Owes Millions In Adjusted Medicare DHS Payments To Hospitals: Lawsuit
The federal government owes tens of millions of dollars to dozens of safety-net hospitals for alleged delays in correcting Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments, hospitals alleged in a new lawsuit. (Kacik, 3/17)
Modern Healthcare: Health Insurance Recoupment Rising To Claw Back Money From Providers
In a practice known as clawbacks, insurers can recoup money after determining they’ve paid too much on past claims due to incorrect coding or fee-for-service reclassifications. Some enlist third-party companies to find overpayments, even if they occurred years ago. Insurance companies typically offset the amount owed by deducting it from the current plan account, meaning they pay less for other services. (Hudson, 3/20)
KHN: Journalists Discuss Medicaid Unwinding And Clawbacks
KHN correspondent Rachana Pradhan untangled Medicaid unwinding on PBS’ “PBS News Weekend” on March 11. ... KHN senior editor Andy Miller discussed virtual visits on WUGA’s “The Georgia Health Report” on March 10. ... KHN rural editor and correspondent Tony Leys discussed how Medicaid clawbacks drain patients’ estates after they die on NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday” on March 5. (3/18)
On medical debt —
The Washington Post: Americans Are Knee-Deep In Medical Debt. Most Owe Hospitals.
For millions of Americans, a trip to the doctor’s office or hospital can be a prescription for debt. But who do the estimated 100 million people with medical debt owe? A new analysis suggests bills for hospital care make up most medical debt in the United States — and that low-income people and people of color are disproportionately affected by overdue medical debt. The report from the Urban Institute drew on data from a June survey of a nationally representative sample of 9,494 adults ages 18 to 64. (Blakemore, 3/18)
In other health care industry news —
Oklahoman: OU Health Says Data For About 3,000 Patients Exposed By Laptop Theft
OU Health is notifying approximately 3,000 patients their protected health information may have been compromised after an employee's laptop was stolen on Dec. 26. (Money, 3/18)
The Baltimore Sun: ‘We Can Do Better’: What’s Behind Maryland’s Long ER Wait Times?
About a week before Thanksgiving, Kelly Jones sat curled up in a ball in the emergency department at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, crying — and at times fainting — from a severe pain radiating from her hip down to her knee. Jones, a 34-year-old East Baltimore resident, recently had been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, a condition that runs in her family. She’d be getting her first epidural to treat the disease in two weeks, but her pain had become unbearable. She needed help now. (Roberts, 3/17)
KHN: Mobile Clinics Really Got Rolling In The Pandemic. A New Law Will Help Them Cast A Wider Safety Net
Nearly 12 years ago, a nonprofit centered on substance abuse prevention in Lyon County, Nevada, broadened its services to dental care. Leaders with the Healthy Communities Coalition were shocked into action after two of their food pantry volunteers used pliers to pull each other’s abscessed teeth. The volunteers saw no other option to relieve their overwhelming pain in the small town where they lived, 40 miles southeast of Reno, because of a dearth of dental care providers. (Rodriguez, 3/20)
AP: Elizabeth Holmes Returns To Court In Bid To Avoid Prison
Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on Friday made what might be her final court appearance before beginning a 11-year prison sentence, unless a judge grants her request to remain free while her lawyers appeal her conviction for masterminding a blood-testing hoax. ... The proceedings ended without a determination whether Holmes, 39, will be able to stay out of prison while her appeal unfolds or have surrender to authorities on April 27, as currently scheduled. Davila said he hopes to issue his ruling in early April. (Liedtke, 3/17)
