Senate approves $1.1 billion for Zika funding
"The Senate on Tuesday approved $1.1 billion to fund the fight against the Zika virus, a figure short of the $1.9 billion requested by President Barack Obama.
With 60 votes needed, the Blunt-Murray amendment passed in a vote of 68 to 29."
After the Orlando nightclub shooting, the American Medical Association calls guns a 'public health crisis'
"In the wake of the worst mass shooting in American history, and with more than 6,000 deaths already in 2016 from gun violence, the American Medical Association has adopted policy calling gun violence in the United States "a public health crisis," requiring a comprehensive public health response and solution.
Additionally, at the annual meeting of its house of delegates, the AMA resolved to actively lobby Congress to overturn legislation that for 20 years has prohibited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from researching gun violence."
Analyst says Trump could fast-track legislation to help rural hospitals
"A repeal of the Affordable Care Act by President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration could spell disaster for rural hospitals, experts say, with special attention to legislation that may fill the gaps.
Since the law's implementation, rural hospitals have gotten a boost largely because more Americans now have health coverage. Whether a revamped healthcare system will erase those gains is anybody's guess."
Even with Trump stepping in, MACRA will likely remain untouched
"With Donald Trump's election comes mass speculation on the direction his healthcare plans will take. He has long sworn to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and the proposal floated on his presidential transition website reiterates this promise and provides hints as to other aspects of his plans.
While some of MACRA is tied up in the ACA, experts said for the most part MACRA is safe, and will move forward largely untouched."
Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush and consultant Paul Keckley both think Trump's desire to run the country as a businessman bodes well for innovation
"President-elect Donald Trump has made clear his intention to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but what this means for value-based innovation is still unclear.
While some Republicans have reportedly expressed a wish to financially gut the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center, and providers have complained of the pace and burden of some of its volume to value initiatives, healthcare consultant Paul Keckley says he believes the businessman in Trump would be eager to keep it going."
The ranks of uninsured could swell by millions if the Affordable Care Act is repealed
"As Donald Trump makes staff decisions and lays out preliminary plans for his first months in office, hospitals should be drilling down on uncompensated care costs, taking greater control of Medicaid and indigent patients, and having discussions about turning tax incentives for the uninsured into direct payments to hospitals, law firm Morgan Lewis said in a Lawflash post.
As Republicans will soon control The White House, House of Representatives, and the Senate, chances are very high at least sections of the Affordable Care Act will be repealed, or at least revised."
Obama signs 21st Century Cures Act into law, funding Vice President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot
"After more than two years in the making, President Barack Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act into law on December 13.
The bill passed with overwhelming approval in both the House and Senate. The bi-partisan legislation provides $6.3 billion to electronic health records, precision medicine, mental health and interoperability."
HHS secretary's outgoing message: Health reform must endure
"While not all models have been successful, healthcare reform that rewards for value over volume will and must endure, outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said Monday in an article published in Health Affairs and shared by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Affordable Care Act may have been an important catalyst, but the changes it set in motion are permanent, Burwell said."
The 'Trump effect' is causing trepidation among healthcare leaders
"Now that efforts tied to the Affordable Care Act have helped to shepherd in an era of value-based payment, Medicaid expansion and an increased emphasis on consumerism, healthcare leaders fear that a potential repeal by the new Trump administration may cause a host of new challenges.
All eyes will be on Seema Verma, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Verma, founder and CEO of a health policy consulting firm, is known for her close ties to Vice President-elect Mike Pence, having designed his Medicaid expansion model in Indiana. She has also advised several Republican states on how to add conservative elements to their programs, such as health savings accounts and employment requirements."
The fate of Medicaid expansion was at the forefront of providers' minds after Trump victory:
"Insurers and payers are moving forward in a new world of healthcare uncertainty amid president-elect Donald Trump's promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.
After the election, the number one concern for providers is what happens with the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, according to Christopher Kerns, executive director, Research at Advisory Board."
Twitter: @HC_Finance