Newswire Archives
High-school-aged teens in the U.S. are not flourishing. A rapid evidence review, funded by Well Being Trust and conducted in partnership with Adolescents and Children Together for Health, makes recommendations for intervention and research design as well as highlights opportunities to focus interventions more broadly on social determinants of health.
The report can be obtained at https://www.academyhealth.org/sites/default/files/rer_movingpolicyupstreamadolescentflourishingdec2019.pdf.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) make risk-adjusted payments by using beneficiaries’ diagnoses to pay higher capitated rates to Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) for sicker beneficiaries with higher risk scores. It may create financial incentives for MAOs to make beneficiaries appear as sick as possible, however, to obtain higher payments. CMS estimates that from 2013 through 2016, Medicare paid $40 billion in overpayments that resulted from plan-submitted diagnoses that were not supported by beneficiaries’ medical records.
A report from the HHS Office of Inspector General can be obtained at https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-03-17-00470.pdf.
The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 today on a party line vote. H.R. 3398, the Pathways to Health Careers Act of 2019, was incorporated into the legislative package. It reauthorizes the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) program at significantly increased funding levels and greatly expands opportunities for individuals to develop the education and skills required to enter a host of allied health professions and nursing, particularly for low income individuals. ASAHP worked with House Committee staff in support of the HPOG legislation. To date, there has not yet been a HPOG companion bill introduced in the Senate.
Today the Senate HELP Committee passed S. 2997, the Title VII Health Care Workforce Act of 2019, by voice vote, which reauthorizes Title VII HRSA health care workforce programs. The legislative package from Sen. Enzi (R-WY) and Sen. Reed (D-OR) includes S. 299, the Geriatrics Workforce Improvement Act, from Sen. Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Casey (D-PA), which authorizes the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) and the Geriatric Academic Career Awards (GACA) program. The House passed their Title VII reauthorization bill in October.
The Senate HELP Committee press release may be accessed here.
The bicameral chairs and ranking members of the Appropriations Committee reached a deal in principle today of the FY 20 spending bills.
A couple of “minibuses” will be needed to pass all 12 appropriations bills, with House votes likely to begin on Tuesday. All 12 bills need to be enacted by Friday, December 20th at midnight to avoid the need for another Continuing Resolution.
Confusion surrounds the definition and implementation of free-college programs. A new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce discusses the basic terminology of free college, along with some common questions about education finance and student financial aid.
The report can be obtained at https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/cew-free_college_101.pdf.
Although the U.S. has made significant progress at improving health over the past three decades, longstanding issues and emerging challenges threaten those gains, a new report from America’s Health Rankings finds. Produced by United Health Foundation, it highlights health trends over both the past three decades and past year.
The report can be obtained at https://assets.americashealthrankings.org/app/uploads/ahr_2019annualreport.pdf.
The Senate approved an amendment to the House-passed FUTURE Act that would permanently restore the annual appropriation of $255 million for minority serving institutions that expired September 30, as well as streamline both the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the process borrowers use to repay income-driven student loans. The amendment also provides for a small increase in the maximum Pell Grant award.
A description of the compromise solution can be obtained at https://www.help.senate.gov/ranking/newsroom/press/senate-education-leaders-propose-bipartisan-solution-to-permanently-fund-historically-black-colleges-and-universities-and-minority-serving-institutions.
In week five (November 24-30, 2019) of the 2020 Open Enrollment, 504,041 individuals selected plans using the HealthCare.gov platform. As in past years, enrollment weeks are measured Sunday through Saturday. Consequently, the cumulative totals reported in this snapshot reflect one fewer day than last year.
Additional information can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/federal-health-insurance-exchange-weekly-enrollment-snapshot-week-5.
The Pathways to Health Careers Act of 2019 has been fully incroprated into a large legislative package, H.R. 3. The Pathways to Health Careers Act of 2019 passed the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this year and reauthorizes the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) program at significantly increased funding levels and greatly expands opportunities for individuals to develop the education and skills required to enter a host of allied health professions and nursing, particularly for low income individuals. ASAHP worked with House Committee staff in support of the HPOG legislation. The Committee on Rules will likely consider the bill early next week, and the legislative package may be voted on the House Floor as early as Wednesday, December 11.
An HPOG Fact Sheet may be accessed here.
Commonwealth Fund researchers discuss the findings of a survey that explored how Americans’ values align with their health care experiences and views on health reform.
Findings can be obtained at http://features.commonwealthfund.org/health-care-in-america-values-experiences.
If a pending court decision finds the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its guarantee of coverage for preexisting conditions to be unconstitutional, or if the law’s opponents successfully repeal it, coverage of 54 million Americans with health problems would be at risk. An Op-Ed in The Hill discusses this matter.
The Op-Ed can be obtained at https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/472963-american-health-care-has-a-new-third-rail.
A provisional set of web tables from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) presents fully edited and imputed data findings from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) winter data collection, including data on graduation rates for selected cohorts, outcome measures, student financial aid, and admissions.
Data can be obtained at https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data/survey-components.
ASAHP, a member of the Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition (HPNEC), joined sixty members of the coalition in urging congressional appropriators to fund the HRSA Title VII health professions and Title VIII programs at $690 million for FY 2020. The Senate has proposed $633.5 million while the House proposed $680 million earlier this summer.
The letter may be accessed here.
In week four (November 17-23) of the 2020 Open Enrollment, 703,556 individuals selected plans using the HealthCare.gov platform. As in past years, enrollment weeks are measured Sunday through Saturday. Consequently, the cumulative totals reported in this snapshot reflect one fewer day than last year.
An article published today in the Harvard Business Review by Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal discusses how Google’s move into patient information as a result of a recent agreement with Ascension, a huge national health system, is yet another sign of how the digital revolution is transforming health care.
The article can be obtained at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2019/why-googles-move-patient-information-big-deal.
Individuals in the United States contend with more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections a year. More than 35,000 die as a result, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency produced an update of its first analysis in 2013 of antibiotic resistance in the U.S. that outlines the top 18 resistant pathogens and evaluates progress in the fight against super bugs.
The report can be obtained at https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/pdf/threats-report/2019-ar-threats-report-508.pdf.
President Trump on November 21 signed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through December 20, 2019 and delay impending Medicaid cuts, among other provisions. Federal funding for fiscal year 2019 expired on September 30 of this year.
The CR can be obtained at https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3055.
In a report from the RAND Corporation, authors analyze how allowing adults ages 50 and older to buy into the Medicare program could affect health insurance coverage, individual market premiums, and federal health care spending.
The report can be obtained at https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR4246.html?utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=RAND%20Policy%20Currents+AEM:%20%20Email%20Address%20NOT%20LIKE%20DOTMIL&utm_campaign=AEM:631600804.
Last week, a federal appeals court heard oral arguments in a case concerning the regulation of association health plans (AHPs), insurance that business or professional associations offer their members. The case hinges on whether AHPs, which the Trump administration is trying to make more widely available, are governed under the rules that apply to small-group or large-group plans, and whether AHPs can aggregate a group of small employers to create a large group.
Important questions are identified in a publication from the Commonwealth Fund that can be obtained at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2019/dc-circuit-judges-hear-oral-arguments-association-health-plans-case.
