Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Study: Big, For-Profit Hospitals Charge More Facility Fees Than Not-For-Profits
Modern Healthcare: Hospital Price Data Reveals Wide Variation In Facility Fees
Larger, for-profit hospitals charged patients higher facility fees for emergency care than not-for-profit hospitals, a new study found. High-acuity patients who went to for-profit emergency departments were charged an average of $1,218 more for cash price facility fees than not-for-profit providers, according to an analysis of 2021 data from more than 1,600 hospitals. (Kacik, 7/11)
More on drug and medical costs —
Stateline.org: Drugmakers Cut Back Participation In Federal Drug Discount Program
Hospitals and community and rural health clinics that serve low-income patients say drug manufacturers have threatened their financial stability by dramatically cutting back their participation in a federal drug discount program that saves those health providers millions of dollars a year. (Ollove, 7/10)
KHN: In America, Cancer Patients Endure Debt On Top Of Disease
Jeni Rae Peters would make promises to herself as she lay awake nights after being diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. “My kids had lost so much,” said Peters, a single mom and mental health counselor. She had just adopted two girls and was fostering four other children. “I swore I wouldn’t force them to have yet another parent.” (Levey, 7/9)
KHN: Medi-Cal’s Reliance On Prisoners To Make Cheaper Eyeglasses Proves Shortsighted
To dodge hefty costs for eyewear, California’s health insurance program for low-income people, Medi-Cal, has an innovative strategy: It contracts exclusively with the state’s prisons, and inmates make glasses for its beneficiaries. But the partnership that began more than 30 years ago has fractured. Medi-Cal enrollees, many of whom are children, and their eye care providers say that they often wait months for the glasses and that sometimes they arrive broken. (DeGuzman, 7/11)
In news about health care personnel —
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Hiring Surged In June, Jobs Report Shows
Healthcare hiring increased substantially in June, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Friday. Employers in the sector added an estimated 56,700 jobs, up from 15,300 in May, preliminary data show. The industry contributed 15.2% of the 372,000 hires made across the economy in June and added the third-most jobs among all categories. (Devereaux, 7/8)
Southern California News Group: Los Angeles Enacts $25 Minimum Wage For Healthcare Workers
Healthcare workers in Los Angeles just got a raise. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed an ordinance Friday, July 8 that sets a $25-an-hour minimum wage for healthcare workers in the city. The law covers all private sector healthcare employees who work in hospitals, integrated health systems and dialysis clinics. (Smith, 7/9)
The CT Mirror: A Quarter Of CT Doctors Work For Big Hospitals. Is That Good For Patients?
In 1999, Kristie Schmidt, an internal medicine physician, opened a practice in Millerton, N.Y., just a mile from the Connecticut border. But after about a decade, the challenges of running a small business came to a head. (Golvala and Altimari, 7/10)
