| “My greatest worry is that we go back to the way things were. We've been calling it the 'Day After Tomorrow' strategy; that what happens in June can't be what it looked like a year ago. It just can't. We have to leapfrog over tomorrow and go to the day after tomorrow and be somewhat insistent and brave. It's not a 'new normal,' I hate that expression. A 'better future' is the way that I would describe it.” | ||
| -Craig Samitt, MD, MBA, President and CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota |
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Healthcare Spending in 2019 |
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Urban Institute: Five study
takeaways on Medicaid expansion's effect on hospital finances 1. In 2017, Medicaid expansion was associated with a $6.4 million decrease in mean hospital uncompensated care costs compared the pre-expansion period. 2. Expansion was associated with a 2.6 percentage point drop in mean uncompensated care costs as a percentage of total expenses when compared to pre-expansion numbers. 3. Expansion was associated with an $8.6 million annual increase in mean Medicaid revenue. 4. Expansion also improved mean operating margins by 1.7 percentage points compared to the pre-expansion period. 5. Compared to hospitals in non-expansion states, hospitals in states that expanded Medicaid were more likely to be nonprofit, larger, have a teaching affiliation and be in metropolitan areas. Source: Medicaid expansion's effect on hospital finances: 5 study takeaways |
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Four Healthcare Trends To Look Forward To In 2021 - Steve Forbes
2020 has been a year filled with disease,
disruption and death. While people’s focus was on coping with
the pandemic, things were unfolding on the healthcare front that
could make our lives better in the years ahead. Steve Forbes on
four healthcare trends that we can look forward to in 2021 and
beyond. |
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Check out
HealthshareTV, the
home for health care videos |
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BCBS MN CEO: Rethinking the Role of the Payer After a raucous 2020 upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare executives are aiming to rebound with a strategic, financial, and clinical point of view in 2021. Craig Samitt, MD, MBA, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota (BCBS MN), tells HealthLeaders that he has "mixed emotions about the future" as the industry begins to emerge from the pandemic. HealthLeaders, January 14, 2021 With New Majority, Here’s What Democrats Can (and Can’t) Do on Health Care The Democrats’ new congressional majority puts a variety of health policy ideas suddenly into reach, even if big structural changes remain unlikely. A series of tweaks bolstering the Affordable Care Act stands the best chance of passage. Legislators could make insurance subsidies more generous, get coverage to low-income Americans in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid, and render moot a pending Supreme Court lawsuit that aims to overturn the entire law. New York Times, January 7, 2021 Plenty of red flags spelled the demise of Amazon, JPMorgan healthcare venture When Amazon, JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway first announced a joint venture aimed at taking on healthcare named Haven, it was met with plenty of buzz and intrigue. After all, if anyone in the private sector could move the needle on the most entrenched problems in healthcare, surely it'd be these behemoths of industry, right? But three years later, Haven has turned from one of the biggest potential disrupters to yet another failed tech-driven venture as officials began telling employees on Monday about plans to shut down by the end of next month. Fierce Healthcare, January 6, 2021 In 2021, Healthcare Leaders See Lingering Challenges and New Opportunities After a year dominated by the coronavirus pandemic and its effects on healthcare, industry executives are looking for a rebound and new opportunities in 2021. To start the new year, HealthLeaders reached out to four healthcare leaders for their thoughts on what the industry should be focused on. HealthLeaders, January 1, 2021 Top health industry issues of 2021: Will a shocked system emerge stronger? Healthcare organizations and their front-line clinical workforce have absorbed the brunt of the pandemic and the emotional toll of witnessing the deaths of hundreds of thousands who could not have loved ones present. Physicians are now dealing with sicker patients because of delayed care during the pandemic. The healthcare system in 2021 also faces a tremendous challenge in responding to the nation’s mental health crisis, as 32% of US consumers surveyed by HRI said they had experienced anxiety or depression as a result of the pandemic. PwC, December 2020 |
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Mark Cuban launches generics maker
promising ‘radically’ low-cost drugs Billionaire investor Mark Cuban is famous for critiquing startup plans on the hit TV series “Shark Tank,” often dismissing would-be entrepreneurs with the show’s famous line, “I’m out.” But Cuban has also been a longtime critic of high health costs—and now he’s jumping in to offer one solution. Cuban has launched a new company, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs, which has a plan to offer low-cost rivals to overpriced generic drugs FiercePharma, January 14, 2021 Open enrollment sign-ups for 2021 match 2020's total, says CMS The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released the final weekly enrollment snapshot that shows about 8.3 million people selected individual market plans through the marketplaces using the federal platform during the 2021 open enrollment period. This total enrollment is nearly the same as enrollments during the 2020 open enrollment period, despite the fact that New Jersey and Pennsylvania transitioned to state-based exchange platforms starting with the 2021 open enrollment period. Healthcare Finance, January 13, 2021 Walgreens announces creation of new tech startup Walgreens is establishing a tech-enabled healthcare startup with the goal of creating a new patient platform that blends physical and digital tools, company leadership said. Executives with the retail pharmacy chain detailed the tech startup, which is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of the company’s fiscal year, during a talk Wednesday during the annual J.P. Morgan healthcare conference. The decision is part of a larger trend in the pharmacy space of retail chains aiming to expand their digital offerings. Fierce Healthcare, January 13, 2021 Payers Kick Off 2021 Investments in Social Determinants of Health Payers have started announcing partnerships and investments for 2021 that aim to address social determinants of health, particularly food scarcity, housing insecurity, and health equity. Some experts have argued that payer funding directed towards non-profits—or payer philanthropy—does not provide solutions to social determinants of health issues. These investments highlight the problems, but do not incentivize long-term, sustainable, and scalable fixes, the argument goes. HealthPayerIntelligence, January 11, 2021 COVID Effect: Less Than 80 Hospital Mergers in 2020 A new Kaufman Hall report indicated that hospital mergers in 2021 could have an "emphasis on addressing broader societal issues" and focus on a "growing diversity of partners and partnerships." HealthLeaders, January 11, 2021 Centene's Neidorff says insurer planning for a 'different mix' of care utilization Centene Corporation CEO Michael Neidorff said the company is expecting care utilization to normalize but is planning for a different mix of services as COVID-19 cases surge. He said Centene is still seeing its members defer elective procedures, while demand for COVID-19 treatment and care is rising. The company expects to see that continue into the first part of 2021, Neidorff said. Fierce Healthcare, January 11, 2021 Trump Administration Approves First Medicaid Block Grant, in Tennessee With just a dozen days left in power, the Trump administration on Friday approved a radically different Medicaid financing system in Tennessee that for the first time would give the state broader authority in running the health insurance program for the poor in exchange for capping its annual federal funding. Kaiser Health News, January 8, 2021 ACA's coverage gains decreased income inequality: study Coverage gains made and subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act reduced income inequality by more than 10% in 2019, according to a new study from the Urban Institute, a left-leaning think tank. The study, backed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and published in Health Affairs, found that for a typical person in the bottom 10th percentile of income, those who enrolled in a plan under the ACA saw their incomes increase by an average of 18.8%. Fierce Healthcare, January 7, 2021 |
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