There's never a shortage of major healthcare policy events in any given calendar year—and 2015 will be no exception. Here's a short list of some that are pending and noteworthy—with a few predictions. First up isn't a prediction as much as a major milestone that's reflective of escalating healthcare costs. According to CMS (here) our National Healthcare Expenditure (NHE) is projected to hit $3.207 trillion this year. The U.S. Population is currently hovering at around 320 million, so 2015 looks to be the first year healthcare spending will reach $10,000 per person. We may be "bending the cost growth curve," but the per capita amount continues to grow.
Anita Chanko could not sleep. At 4 a.m., on an August night in 2012, she settled onto the couch in her Yorkville living room with her dog, Daisy, and her parrot, Elliott, and flipped on the DVR. On came the prior night's episode of "NY Med," the popular real-life medical series set at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, starring Dr. Mehmet Oz. Mrs. Chanko, 75, was a fan of the show and others like it. "It starts off, there's a woman with stomach cancer and her family, and then there's somebody with a problem with their baby, I think it was a heart," she remembered. "And then I see the doctor that treated my husband."
Imagine you're an OB/GYN doing a C-section on a woman who's had six previous C-sections. She says she's done having kids and has asked to have her tubes tied at the same time as the C-section, which is standard procedure. But if you work at a Catholic hospital, you can't do it?they officially prohibit sterilization. "I'm thinking, you know, if I tie her tubes I'm going to get kicked off the staff. And I just don't think that's right," said a doctor who faced just such a scenario. And she isn't alone in her frustration.
Deaths due to influenza and pneumonia have hit "epidemic" levels in the U.S. as flu activity became widespread in 36 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials reported 837 flu and pneumonia deaths to the CDC through its 122 Cities Mortality Reporting System during the 51st week of the year. Those deaths accounted for 6.8% of the 12,358 total deaths that week, just meeting the epidemic threshold. The area that includes cities in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin reported 151 deaths, the most among the nine regions in the system. Another 147 deaths were tallied in the Pacific region, which includes California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.
The federal government is cracking down on nonprofit hospitals under Obamacare in an attempt to prevent harsh collection practices and steep charges for the uninsured. Newly finalized regulations from the Internal Revenue Service, announced Monday, will require nonprofit hospitals to "take an active role in improving the health of the communities" by making payment methods more fair and making costs more transparent. For example, nonprofit hospitals are banned from asking for money in patients' rooms or selling debt to third-party companies unless they make a "reasonable effort" to offer financial assistance. Each hospital must also take steps to improve the health of its community, including a semi-annual evaluation of the area's "health needs."
Starting Thursday, Medicaid payments to many doctors are expected to drop by an average of 43 percent. The cuts are among the most important stories heading into 2015. Essentially, they involve the sun setting of a two-year pay raise for doctors included in the Affordable Care Act. That was because the federal law sought to properly fund its expansion of Medicaid, a health care program primarily for low-income people. After spending about $5.6 billion to directly fund that two-year pay raise, the Medicaid payment rate cuts are expected to take effect in 2015, according to a report by Urban Institute, a research group.