(Excerpts from a presentation by Seth Edwards, Premier, Inc. at the iProtean, now part of Veralon Symposium, March 2017) Helpful Acronyms and Definitions: MACRA: Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act of 2015 QPP: Quality Payment Program—basically, a regulation that enacts the MACRA legislation MIPS: Merit-based Incentive Payment system—one of two tracks created under MACRA […]
Veralon Views Blog
The Veralon Views blog is an extension of our partnership with leaders who are transforming the healthcare industry. Here, we share expert perspectives from our nationally recognized senior consulting team on issues that are key to the success of your organization.
A study in Health Affairs’ April issue found that hospitals might experience larger-than expected Medicare payment cuts under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). The report’s authors estimated that “MACRA will decrease Medicare spending on physician services by −$35 to −$106 billion (−2.3 percent to −7.1 percent) and change spending on hospital services by $32 […]
A major rating agency expects enrollment declines in the health exchange marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), thus increasing the level of uncompensated care for hospitals in 2018. Fitch Rating announced its prediction several days after the American Health Care Act (AHCA) was pulled from a planned March 24 vote in the U.S. […]
Consolidation among healthcare providers has continued at a significant rate over the last decade. In 2005, 45% (2,220) of acute, non-federal community hospitals were independent; by 2015, the figure had fallen to 34% (1,677)[1]. Factors driving this consolidation have been well articulated and thoroughly examined, and include financial distress, competitive pressures, the challenges of success […]
The administration has proposed an 18 percent cut in the FY 2018 budget for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Analysts have evaluated these proposed cuts for their impact on healthcare providers. Proposed Increases (Good News) $70 million increase in the FY18 budget for the Health Care Fraud and Abuse […]
Note: iProtean, now part of Veralon’s newsletter/blog will not be published next week because of iProtean, now part of Veralon’s symposium Last week, Republicans presented initial legislation as a redo of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), calling it the American Health Care Act (ACHA). A summary of the changes appears below, courtesy of the […]
Republican plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with their own design have put healthcare CEOs in a state of “high anxiety,” according to a recent survey conducted by Modern Healthcare. The first-quarter survey of Modern Healthcare’s CEO Power Panel received 81 responses from 110 of the CEOs contacted. It also […]
Some provisions of Medicare’s first mandatory bundled payment model, Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR), were recently delayed from February 18 to March 21, but new mandatory models still will launch in July, according to federal officials. The delay did not affect the CJR expansion model—the Surgical Hip and Femur Fracture Treatment (SHFFT) model—or […]
Healthcare spending increases slowed down in 2016. However, federal actuaries predict spending to increase at a faster rate in the coming years. Here is a quick summary of spending increases in the last three years: 2014—5.5 percent 2015—5.5 percent 2016—4.8 percent Spending increases are expected to accelerate to 5.4 percent in 2017 and […]
Provider hiring dipped in January, fueling speculation that “repeal and replace” efforts will affect hospitals’ and physicians’ financial health. The totals for January, reported by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), are as follows: Hospitals—4,200 positions in January compared to 10,000+ jobs per month over the last two years Outpatient settings—11,000 in January, […]