Rachel Werner and R. Adams Dudley's article on Medicare's hospital value-based purchasing (VBP) program in the September Health Affairs concludes that the program is likely to have only a small impact on hospital payments. While it is true that relatively little money is likely to be redistributed from bottom-performing hospitals to those at the top, this is no reason to conclude that the program is not working as intended. Quite the contrary, it's performing exactly as intended so far.
Nashville-based HCA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HCA) is creating more than 1,000 jobs as part of a major expansion in Davidson County, company and government officials announced Thursday. The hospital giant's expansion also will allow for construction to begin on Alex Palmer's 900,000-square-foot West End Summit, one of Nashville's highest-profile stalled commercial real estate projects, representing an investment of $200 million. Combined, the expansion of the two HCA units represents 2,000 jobs over five years. It is believed to be the largest creation of jobs in Nashville by one economic development project since the relocation of Dell in the early 1990s, and one of the largest in the region's history.
Establishing the Technology Infrastructure for Health Insurance Exchanges Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), developed in collaboration with the National Academy of Social Insurance, is based on interviews with policy and technology leaders from the "early innovator" states that are developing HIX IT models that can be adopted and tailored by other states. Executives at other state exchanges that have made significant progress in designing and developing exchanges, and others that are modernizing Medicaid and CHIP eligibility systems, were also interviewed.
The boards of Ashland Community Hospital and the San Francisco-based Dignity Health group have approved a merger of the two organizations. The ACH board also voted Wednesday to formally ask the Ashland City Council to approve the partnership and a lease agreement with Dignity Health, said Janet Troy, ACH director of development. The alliance requires the city's approval because when the city turned the hospital over to the not-for-profit Ashland Community Healthcare Services in 1996, it retained sole corporate membership, according to city documents. Dignity Health and ACH boards voted to approve the agreement on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, according to an email from ACH board Chairman Doug Gentry.
While the number of Americans left standing at the gate because they can't afford a health insurance "ticket" is declining, the scheduled takeoff in insurance coverage has run into mechanical difficulties. As airline passengers have learned, having a ticket isn't the same as having a confirmed seat. In 2011, nearly one-third of physicians said they wouldn't accept new Medicaid patients because of payment issues. Unlike with airline tickets, however, consumer choices in healthcare can lead to consequences that truly are non-changeable and non-refundable. Whether the industry turmoil leads to more Americans getting a better "seat" at a better price remains to be seen.
It still divides us, but most Americans think President Barack Obama's healthcare law is here to stay. More than 7 in 10 say the law will fully go into effect with some changes, ranging from minor to major alterations, a new Associated Press-GfK poll finds. Only 12 percent expect the Affordable Care Act—"Obamacare" to dismissive opponents —to be repealed completely. The law—covering 30 million uninsured, requiring virtually every legal U.S. resident to carry health insurance and forbidding insurers from turning away the sick—remains as contentious as the day it passed more than two years ago. There's still more than another year before its major provisions go into effect on Jan. 1, 2014.