Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Online Price Calculators For Hospital Services Gaining Popularity In Midst Of Strong Demand From Patients
Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Roll Out Online Price Estimators As CMS Presses For Transparency
Leaders at El Camino Hospital, located in California's Silicon Valley, wanted to make it easy for tech-savvy consumers to shop online for personalized, reliable price estimates for its medical services. The independent not-for-profit hospital launched a consumer self-service tool in May 2017, after about a year of development work with Experian Health, which previously helped El Camino set up an internal price-estimator tool for its billing staff. Since then, more than 3,000 people have visited the hospital's website, selected one or more of about 90 medical or surgical services they were interested in, entered their insurance information, and received an instant out-of-pocket cost estimate the hospital claims is 95% to 99% accurate. (Meyer, 6/23)
Modern Healthcare: Federal Court Receives AHA's Ideas On Fixing Medicare Backlog
A federal court has received the American Hospital Association's ideas on reducing the huge backlog of denied Medicare claims. A federal judge may mandate HHS to follow some or all of the ideas in order to curb the ever-growing number of appeals. The ideas were filed Friday in response to a request from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg. He asked the AHA to submit ideas after he was reportedly frustrated with HHS' inability to process appeals. As of June 2017, 607,402 pending appeals would not be reviewed for another three years, the agency predicts. At this rate, the backlog will reach 950,520 appeals by the end of fiscal 2021. (Dickson, 6/25)
Minnesota Public Radio: As Transgender People Seek Change, Hospital Doors Open
Mayo and other major hospitals across the country have responded with new clinics and consolidated mental and physical health services to meet the needs of trans people. But as they work to meet that rising demand, doctors are also navigating some difficult medical and ethical questions. (Richert, 6/25)
The Associated Press: Psychiatric Hospital Loses Certification And Federal Dollars
Washington state's largest psychiatric hospital has lost its federal certification and $53 million in annual federal funds after a recent unannounced inspection discovered a list of health and safety violations. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified the state on Monday that Western State Hospital is out of compliance, and the federal government will not make payments for patients admitted after July 8. They'll cover current patients for up to 30 days. (6/25)
Seattle Times: Western State Hospital Loses $53 Million In Federal Funding After Failing Inspection
The hospital, which has been at risk of losing federal funding since a 2015 inspection, holds about 850 beds for patients who are involuntarily committed due to psychiatric disorders as well as criminal defendants whose competency is in question. Washington officials say the funding loss — which comprises less than 20 percent of Western State’s annual budget — won’t disrupt its operations. (O'Sullivan, 6/25)
