Business Intelligence
Patient factors must weigh equally under Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program to avoid crippling penalties for safety-net facilities, study says.
Elizabeth Mitchell of the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement said with preparation, it would be hard to still get hit with penalty.
Federal spending would rise by $47 billion over the next 10 years if tax credits make up difference for insurer cost-sharing, court filing says.
Standard now will be reviewed by the Office of Administrative Law, which proponents expect will approve the new rules.
Only about a third of plans available are silver, another third are bronze offering 60 percent coverage, 25 percent are gold or platinum plans offering 90 percent.
Cost savings are further bolstered by avoiding unnecessary surgeries and achieving lower rates of expensive complications.
Anthem and Cigna spent a combined $3.4 million, double the $1.2 million spent by Aetna and Humana.
If quality of a hospital or system is made public and easier to understand, organizations have a market incentive to improve, says Leapfrog CEO.
HCA will sell its Oklahoma hospitals and terminate its lease of a children's hospital as other systems announced plans for an integrated network.
Affiliation will allow patients to get treatment closer to home, builds upon ongoing relationship between the two systems.