Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Care Facilities For Cancer Treatments, Areas Hard Hit By Pandemic
Billings-Gazette: A Home To Heal In: Billings Clinic Cancer Center Provides Housing For Long-Term Patients
Those who leave home for cancer treatment at the Billings Clinic will be able to have a more comfortable stay, now that the clinic has acquired two residences for patients. A duplex, provided by the Billings Clinic Foundation and serviced by the Billings Inn by Riversage, will allow two patients of the Billings Clinic Cancer Center to receive lifesaving care while being within walking distance of a fully-furnished home. (Hamby, 8/1)
Kaiser Health News: Hospital Merger In Washington State Stokes Fears About Catholic Limits On Care
The proposed merger of a well-regarded secular hospital system and a larger Roman Catholic system in Washington state has triggered new alarms about religious restrictions on patients’ access to care. Virginia Mason Health System and CHI Franciscan announced plans in mid-July to form a joint operating company including 12 hospitals and more than 250 other treatment sites in the Puget Sound region and the Yakima area in central Washington. They touted the deal as a way to improve care. (Meyer, 8/3)
Crain's New York Business: NYC Health + Hospitals Spending $142M To Build COVID Recovery Clinics
NYC Health + Hospitals' plan to build Centers of Excellence in areas that have been hardest hit by COVID-19 in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens will cost about $142 million, according to state filings. The health system is developing clinics in the Tremont section of the Bronx, Bushwick in Brooklyn and Jackson Heights in Queens. (Lamantia, 8/1)
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Executive Incentive Payouts Look Bad Amid COVID-19
While most hospital and health systems are reworking their executive incentive plans, only 16% eliminated bonus payouts entirely this year as COVID-19 roils the healthcare industry and the broader economy. Annual and long-term performance-based incentives have driven pay hikes of 4% to 7% each of the last five years, according to Modern Healthcare’s annual Executive Compensation Survey. Prior to the pandemic, weighted average total cash compensation, which encompasses base salaries and bonuses, for executives across 376 health systems surveyed increased 6.5%. Weighted average total cash compensation rose 3.2% for executives across more than 1,000 hospitals. (Kacik, 8/1)
Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Grants Won't Factor Into Some Providers' 2020 Debt Ratios
Lawmakers have appropriated $175 billion in Provider Relief Fund grants to providers who suffered losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the money comes with complicated and ever-changing accounting rules that are preventing some providers with June 30 year ends to include all of the aid in their fiscal 2020 reports. Since the end of the fiscal year is also when borrowers have to prove their financial standing meet requirements in their agreements with lenders, called debt covenants, that could be a problem. (Bannow, 7/31)
Reuters: Siemens Healthineers Expands Into Cancer Care With $16.4 Billion Deal For Varian
German health group Siemens Healthineers (SHLG.DE) said on Sunday it was buying Varian Medical Systems Inc (VAR.N) of the United States for $16.4 billion in a deal that seeks to create the global leader in cancer care solutions. The deal is the first major growth move by Healthineers since it was spun off and floated in 2018 by Siemens (SIEGn.DE), which is undertaking a broader shakeup of its conglomerate structure to create room for its business units to do their own deals. (Poltz and Busvine, 8/2)
Modern Healthcare: System-Owned Health Plans Provide Financial Buffer Against COVID-19
Health insurers have so far sailed through the COVID-19 crisis relatively unscathed. The twin effects of stable premium income and lower claims are strong enough that health systems that own insurance companies got an income cushion too. Systems like Presbyterian Healthcare Services, Geisinger Health and ProMedica have noticed their insurance operations are providing a welcome buffer from the effects of COVID-19. Even as patient revenue shrinks, health plan premium revenue has held steady. (Bannow, 8/1)
Modern Healthcare: HHS 340B Hospital Pay Cuts Are Legal, Appeals Court Rules
An appeals court panel on Friday ruled that an HHS policy that cut some Medicare outpatient drug payments by 28.5% at 340B hospitals is legal, overturning a lower court decision. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 2-1 to uphold the HHS payment policy, which the agency first proposed in 2017. Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan wrote in the court's opinion that HHS acted within its statutory authority to cut pay for 340B hospitals "so as to avoid reimbursing those hospitals at much higher levels than their actual costs to acquire the drugs." (Cohrs, 7/31)
