Demystifying Medicare Advantage Plans
Medicare Advantage plans are a popular alternative to Original Medicare for many seniors who want more coverage and flexibility. But what exactly are Medicare Advantage plans and how do they work?
AHA Tackles Social Determinants of Health
The American Hospital Association has opened applications for its second annual AHA Innovation Challenge.
AHA Urges Creation of Stark Law Exception
The American Hospital Association has made various recommendations to ease the burdens of Stark Law compliance, including protection for value-based payment arrangements.
Social Determinants of Health Generate Drastic Cost Reductions
New research released by WellCare Health Plans, Inc. and the University of South Florida (USF) College of Public Health, Tampa, and published in Population Health Management, reports that healthcare spending is substantially reduced when people are successfully connected to social services that address social barriers, or social determinants of health, such as secure housing, medical transportation, healthy food programs, and utility and financial assistance.
CMS Prioritizes Patient-Centered Care over Paperwork
A new survey exams the attitudes, perspectives, and plans of healthcare leadership that are shaping telemedicine’s application, value, and potential. The research explored telehealth services adoption rates and drivers, budgets and ROI, the technology’s role in delivering care, and the factors important to executives when selecting a solution for their organization.
Flaws Found in Recent 340B Study? AHA Responds To NEJM
The shift under way in payment in US health care - from volume to value - has sparked interest in new contracting arrangements to pay for prescription drugs. The objective of these new arrangements is to reward successful outcomes of medication use in patients, rather than pay based on the volume of drugs sold. Unfortunately, value-based contract barriers stand in the way of one approach to managing drug costs and obtaining better value for money spent. However, achieving the full potential of these contracts will necessitate regulatory and other changes.
Kentucky Medicaid Lawsuit Guide: 5 Things To Know
On January 24, 2018, 15 Kentucky Medicaid enrollees filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging CMS’s authority to issue the work requirement policy and approve the Kentucky waiver. This issue brief answers 5 key questions about the Kentucky Medicaid Lawsuit.
Medicaid Expansion Linked To Better Clinical Care
ACA Medicaid expansion, was associated with an increased probability of patients presenting with less complicated surgical disease and a greater likelihood of patients receiving optimal surgical management after admission and linked to better access to surgery and higher quality surgical care, according to a new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Social Determinants Vital To Payer Improvement
A report from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, was released linking social determinants of health to differences in health across communities. From this report payers can see how demographic, behavioral, and structural factors impact health conditions of their members in different ways and gain greater insight into these differences to better understand population’s overall health.
UnitedHealthcare Shares Consumer Sentiment Results
More Americans are turning to technology first to evaluate health conditions, and a growing number are interested in using the internet to access medical care, while opportunities remain to improve peoples’ understanding of basic health insurance terms and the connection between lifestyle choices and disease, according to a new study. UnitedHealthcare shares results in a new report.