Did you know that one of the top CMS administrators practices medicine on the weekend? This is an interesting article about a Washington bureaucrat and his ties to the real world practice of medicine.
Read more here.
Arkansas has taken a quiet lead in making changes to its healthcare system. This state averages a lower life expectancy than most other state and has a host of high rates of chronic illnesses for its citizens. However, it has elected to expand Medicaid coverage through the ACA. Their government has also taken strides in making changes to keep their citizens out of the hospital and into settings that foster greater well-being and lower costs.
Read more here.
A few years ago, CMS approved an alternative Medicaid expansion model for Indiana, Health Indiana Plan (HIP). This requires members to pay some amount each month into an HSA-like plan. How does it look from the eyes of one of its members? Read more here.
California is no stranger to being the first in tighter regulations across industries. (The Clean Air Act and tighter car-emissions are immediately coming to mind). In a first for the United States, a proposal has emerged to remove poor performing hospitals in quality indicators from the Covered California exchange policy networks. This is not popular with either providers (no surprise there) or payers.
Read more here.
In the lightening speed of .com start-ups that have brought market disruptors such as Amazon and Uber, should healthcare companies be thinking more like them?
Read more here.
