Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Administration Tells States To Scale Back Their Certificate-Of-Need Laws And Scope Of Practice Rules
Modern Healthcare: White House Urges States To Repeal Certificate-Of-Need Laws
The Trump administration on Monday urged states to scale back their certificate-of-need laws and scope of practice rules, as the executive branch promised to push back against hospital consolidations. In a sweeping 120-page report encompassing more than 50 policy recommendations, the White House blamed government and commercial insurance for putting up barriers to patients and hurting price transparency. (Luthi, 12/3)
Modern Healthcare: CMS Changes To Hospital Star Ratings Don't Address Concerns
The CMS will update star ratings to Hospital Compare in February after a 14-month delay to resolve issues, but the agency did not address some of critics' biggest concerns. The changes to the star ratings methodology, which was released to hospitals on Friday in a preview report, were minimal as the CMS maintains its use of the latent variable model, which analysts and hospitals have taken issue with for the way it assigns hospitals star ratings. (Castellucci,12/3)
Modern Healthcare: Flaws In Hospital Community Benefit Reporting Create Knowledge Vacuum
The academic medical center uses the information to inform its community health needs assessment, which the Internal Revenue Service began to require in 2016 as part of the Affordable Care Act. It also directs Rush [University Medical Center's] movement into population health management as the industry recognizes that housing conditions, education and job opportunity directly impact a person's health. But without explicit rules guiding hospitals' interventions or setting a baseline level of funding, community benefit programs and their spending vary wildly. And as not-for-profit systems grow, public officials, community leaders and healthcare researchers have questioned whether community benefit programs justify providers' tax exemptions. (Kacik, 12/3)
Georgia Health News: Lives Lost Amid ER Violations, Investigation Finds
WebMD and Georgia Health News analyzed 10 years of EMTALA violations by hospitals around the United States from March 2008 to March 2018. The records, obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request, show cases where complaints were substantiated by investigators for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, meaning the hospital was found to be at fault. Our investigation found: More than 4,300 violations from 1,682 hospitals in total over 10 years. (Goodman and Miller, 11/29)
Chicago Tribune: Seven Illinois Hospitals Among Top 118 In The Nation
Seven Illinois hospitals are among the top 118 in the country, though two of Chicago’s most well-known institutions didn’t make the cut, according to the nonprofit Leapfrog Group’s annual list. The seven hospitals are Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Elmhurst Hospital, Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, OSF Holy Family Medical Center in Monmouth, Amita Health Resurrection Medical Center Chicago, Amita Health Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center Chicago, and University of Chicago Medical Center. (Schencker, 12/4)
