Medicare spending isn't just lower than experts predicted a few years ago. On a per-person basis, Medicare spending is actually falling. If the pattern continues, as the Congressional Budget Office forecasts, it will be a rarity in the Medicare program's history. Spending per Medicare patient has almost always grown more rapidly than the economy as a whole, often by a wide margin. Health economists call that difference "excess cost growth." Lately, though, some have taken to using the unwieldy phrase "negative excess cost growth." This year, Medicare, which covers those 65 and older and people with disabilities, will spend about $11,200 on average for every person enrolled in the program.
Federal health officials are planning to give small businesses in select states an early chance to try ObamaCare's delayed health insurance exchange for their employees. The soft launch will begin in five states in late October as the Obama administration works to avoid another disaster in the healthcare law's second enrollment period. The goal is to fix any problems encountered by users in Delaware, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and New Jersey prior to Nov. 15, when the SHOP system (Small Business Health Options Program) will go live for all states that elected not to construct their own exchanges.
Enrolling in Missouri's Medicaid program has not been easy. Many applicants have experienced a barrage of problems when trying to sign up for the program, including long delays until coverage kicks in, lost paperwork and a lack of one-on-one interaction with caseworkers. State officials have blamed a new computer system used to process Medicaid applications. But there is another reason why some Missourians struggle to get help. When Deborah Weaver, 28, had issues enrolling in the state's Medicaid coverage for pregnant women, a switch from her Medicaid disability coverage, she was directed to use a toll-free number, 1-855-373-4636. When she called, Weaver endured long waits and received no guidance.
Attorney General Martha Coakley is renegotiating a controversial settlement with Partners HealthCare after a state commission said Wednesday that a proposed takeover of two North Shore hospitals would raise costs and increase Partners' already formidable market power. Coakley's deal would allow Partners to acquire South Shore Hospital in Weymouth and Hallmark Health System in Medford and Melrose, while setting price caps and other limits on Partners' further expansion for several years. Coakley had structured the deal, announced in May, so that it could be revised based on findings of the Health Policy Commission, a watchdog agency.
The Health Policy Commission will begin discussions in October about how to implement part of a new nurse staffing law, but already some stakeholders are gearing up for a fight. The legislation, passed unanimously by both the state Senate and House in late June and seen as a productive compromise between nurses and hospital administrators, requires that there be one nurse to one patient in any intensive care unit. Hospitals can increase the ratio to two patients in certain circumstances by using a patient acuity tool.
The head of the new Beaumont Health not-for-profit — the result of an eight-hospital merger that became official this week — says there are no plans for layoffs to cut costs. Additionally, the eight hospitals will remain open under current plans, said Gene Michalski, head of the new $3.8-billion Beaumont Health, the result of what was billed as an affiliation of Royal Oak-based Beaumont Health System, Dearborn-based Oakwood Healthcare and Farmington Hills' Botsford Hospital. The new system became official Tuesday. Combined, the health care system will make up one of the largest in Michigan — employing 33,093 and operating 3,337 hospital beds.