Newswire Archives
An announcement from the Department of Education reveals that it plans to repeal the Obama administration’s gainful employment rule. In place of the rule, the Department plans to expand program-level outcomes data available from the College Scorecard, but without any measures that punish those programs with poor outcomes.
More information can be obtained at https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2017/gainfulemployment.html.
On August 9, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that would overhaul the Medicare Shared Savings Program, which is the program established by the Affordable Care Act and launched in 2012 under which the vast majority of Medicare’s Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) operate. The redesigned program is called “Pathways to Success.”
More information can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-proposes-pathways-success-overhaul-medicares-aco-program.
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) presents information on enrollment in and spending for Medicaid managed care and analyzes factors affecting those measures—including the types of beneficiaries, geographic areas, and range of services that managed care programs cover.
The report can be obtained at https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=2018-08/54235-MMC_chartbook.pdf.
The Trump Administration issued a final rule on August 3, 2018 reversing federal limits on short-term health coverage, allowing such plans to become a long-term alternative to individual-market coverage. To the Point, a publication of The Commonwealth Fund, discusses how insurance departments in the 17 states that run their own marketplaces are working on the eve of this policy shift.
More information can be obtained at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2018/do-states-know-short-term-health-plan-markets.
The Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Disasters and Emergencies at the National Academy of Sciences hosted a 2-day public workshop on March 20 and 21, 2018 to explore several objectives developed by a planning committee, including the private health system and federal perspectives on the nation’s capacity to respond to threats to health, safety, and security.
A workshop report can be obtained at https://www.nap.edu/read/25203/chapter/1#vi.
Published in today’s edition of the Federal Register, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury issued a final rule to allow for the sale and renewal of short-term, limited-duration plans that cover longer periods than the previous maximum period of less than three months. Such coverage now can cover an initial period of less than 12 months, and, taking into account any extensions, a maximum duration of no longer than 36 months in total. The action is aimed at helping increase choices for Americans faced with escalating premiums and dwindling options in the individual insurance market.
The final rule can be obtained at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-08-03/pdf/2018-16568.pdf.
For the first time, the percentage of the American population age 25 and older that completed high school or higher levels of education reached 90 percent in 2017. The nation has made giant strides in education since 1940, when only 24 percent of individuals age 25 and older had finished four years of high school or more, according to recently released educational attainment data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.
Data can be obtained at https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2017/demo/education-attainment/cps-detailed-tables.html?eml=gd&utm_campaign=20180801msacos1ccstors&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.
A Data Point report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) examines literacy and numeracy skills of U.S. men and women. They did not have different literacy scores, but men had higher numeracy scores overall, as well as in each age group and educational attainment level examined. Levels of literacy and numeracy affect how successful patients are in interacting effectively with health care providers.
The report can be obtained at https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018164.pdf.
On Thursday, August 30 at 2:00 p.m. ET the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) will be hosting a free webinar titled “An IPE Approach to the Opioid Epidemic” featuring panelists Drs. Patricia J. Ohtake (University at Buffalo) and Wendy E. Braund (University of Pittsburgh). Drs. Ohtake and Braund will share remarks on designing and implementing collaborative strategies in response to the opioid epidemic.
For additional information and to register for this webinar, click here.
The Department of Education's principal deputy for higher education, Diane Auer Jones, discussed the Department's proposal to reduce federal oversight of accreditors, re-examine online education requirements, drop the Obama Administration's definition of the credit hour, possibly expand the use of Pell grants for short-term programs, and require detailed justification from colleges that reject transfer credits.
Read the full article here.
An analysis from the Urban Institute provides state-by-state estimates of the impact on insurance coverage, premiums, and mandate penalty revenues if the states were to adopt individual mandates. If all states did so, the number of uninsured would be lower by 3.9 million individuals in 2019 and by 7.5 million in 2022. On average, marketplace premiums would be 11.8% lower in 2019.
The report can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/98805/2001925_state_based_individual_mandates_2.pdf.
House Education and Workforce Committee Democrats introduced their version of Higher Education Act reauthorization, the “Aim Higher Act”, which highlights Democratic priorities in higher education.
Please find a link to a detailed summary of the bill, along with three fact sheets, including a comparison of key provisions with the “PROSPER Act”, which the Majority moved through the House Education and Workforce Committee along party lines late last year.
The “Aim Higher Act” has several themes including:
While this bill is not expected to move forward in the Republican controlled Congress, it provides a sense of Democrats’ priorities if they regain the Majority in the House of Representatives next year.
Despite their growing presence in healthcare, women continue to remain pessimistic about achieving parity in the workplace, according to a Rock Health report. More than half (55%) expect it will take at least 25 years to reach parity with men, up from 45% in 2017. Only 5% believe parity will happen in the next five years, down from 8% last year.
The report can be obtained at https://rockhealth.com/reports/women-in-healthcare-2018/.
ASAHP joined members of the Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition (HPNEC) in a letter to House and Senate appropriators that calls for $690 million for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Title VII health professions and Title VIII nursing workforce development programs for fiscal year 2019.
The HPNEC letter is available here.
A report from the Brookings Institution examines the causes of instability in the individual market and identifies measures to help improve stability based on information obtained from 10 states.
The report can be obtained at https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Stabilizing-and-Strenghtening-the-Individual-Health-Insurance-Market2.pdf.
A report from the Altarum Institute indicates that health care added 25,200 new jobs in June 2018, consistent with the 12-month average of 25,800 new jobs per month. Employment increased by 309,000 over the past year. Hospitals added 10,600 jobs in June, higher than the 12-month average of 7,900. Ambulatory settings such as physician offices and home health added 13,500 new jobs, lower than the 12-month average of 17,000.
The report can be obtained at https://altarum.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-related-files/SHSS-Labor-Brief_July_2018.pdf.
An article in today’s issue of Inside Higher Ed discusses Congressional spending proposals in 2019 for the Pell Grant Program and various other college access and student aid programs.
The article can be obtained at http://insidehighered.com/news/2018/07/18/pell-work-force-training-could-see-increase-2019-spending.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today held the second in a series of hearings on how to reduce health care costs, which focused on preventing unnecessary spending and improving value. Representatives from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Montefiore Health System, Pacific Business Group on Health, and Stanford University School of Medicine testified.
Testimony can be obtained at https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/reducing-health-care-costs-eliminating-excess-health-care-spending-and-improving-quality-and-value-for-patients.
High-need, high-cost patients make up 5% of the U.S. population, but account for roughly 50% of the country’s annual healthcare spending. The Health Care Transformation Task Force (HCTTF) and the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH) have created resources to help provider and payer organizations effectively contract for high-need, high-cost programs. They include: a whitepaper and a practical set of guidelines.
The white paper can be obtained at https://hcttf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Care-Management-Contracting-Report_FINAL.pdf and the guidelines at https://hcttf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Care-Management-Contracting-Guidance-Document_vF.pdf.
The ACA led to a significant decline in the number of uninsured individuals. A new report from the Urban Institute analyzes characteristics of the remining uninsured and how this population has changed. An array of possible approaches for increasing insurance coverage based upon the characteristics is outlined.
The report can be accessed at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/98764/2001914-characteristics-of-the-remaining-uninsured-an-update_0.pdf.
