Newswire Archives
A report from the PwC Health Research Institute provides information on what to expect in 2019 regarding the Affordable Care Act.
The report can be obtained at https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/health-industries/top-health-industry-issues/aca-in-2019.html.
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final snapshot for the Federal Health Insurance Exchange 2019 Open Enrollment Period, showing steady enrollment with more than 8.4 million consumers enrolled. By comparison, 8.7 million individuals had enrolled at the same time last year.
The Final Snapshot can be obtained at https://edit.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/final-weekly-enrollment-snapshot-2019-enrollment-period.
Crossing the Global Quality Chasm: Improving Health Care Worldwide is a new publication from the National Academies Press. Its focus is on one particular shortfall in health care affecting global populations: defects in the quality of care. This study reviews the available evidence on the quality of care worldwide and makes recommendations to improve health care quality globally while expanding access to preventive and therapeutic services, with a focus in low-resource areas.
The report can be obtained at https://www.nap.edu/read/25152/chapter/1.
A new report presents findings from a quantitative survey research study that Gallup conducted on behalf of Inside Higher Ed to understand the views of college and university faculty members and the administrators who oversee their institutions’ online learning or instructional technology efforts.
The report can be obtained at https://www.pearson.com/us/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/us/en/files/IHE_2018_Survey_Faculty_Technology.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_source=TOP_eNews_Dec2018_VersionA&utm_campaign=7010N000000CrZw&cmpid=7010N000000CrZw.
Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos addressed the American Council on Education emphasizing the need to change the traditional track of attending college or universities for postsecondary education. There is a disconnect between industry needs and education. She also discussed changes to accreditation and whether the Department previously played too large of a role in the process. The Department of Education released two white papers about these issues: Rethinking Higher Education and Accreditation Reform.
Read her full remarks here.
Nearly 8.5 million individuals selected a health plan through HealthCare.gov during 2019 open enrollment, down from 8.8 million at the same time last year. according to preliminary data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In Week Seven of the 2019 Open Enrollment, 4,322,450 individuals selected plans using the HealthCare.gov platform or were automatically re-enrolled in a plan.
More information can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/weekly-enrollment-snapshot-week-7.
A new report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) examines postsecondary students’ persistence and attainment rates using data from the 2006 and 2014 administrations of the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Studies. The focus is students who enter postsecondary education with the intention of earning a credential, looking at the rate at which these credential-seeking students remain in school or attain a credential within three years.
The report can be obtained at https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019045.pdf.
According to a report from the Urban Institute, master’s degree programs enroll a more diverse set of students than ever and offer a more diverse set of program fields. They also increasingly are online, with more than 50 percent of master’s students reporting at least some online coursework in 2015–16. Although master’s degrees are more popular and more readily available to a wider cohort of students, the net price for these programs has risen.
The report can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/99501/the_rise_of_masters_degrees.pdf.
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Request for Information (RFI) to assist OCR in identifying provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security regulations that may impede the transformation to value-based health care or that limit or discourage coordinated care among individuals and covered entities (including hospitals, physicians, and other providers, payors, and insurers), without meaningfully contributing to the protection of the privacy or security of individuals’ protected health information. Comments must be submitted on or before February 12, 2019.
The RFI can be obtained at https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-12-14/pdf/2018-27162.pdf.
The Stanford Medicine 2018 Health Trends Report drills down into operation and implementation of the data explosion in medicine, exploring how this wealth of information is changing traditional health care roles, the experience of patient care, and access to services in the digital age.
The report can be obtained at https://med.stanford.edu/content/dam/sm/school/documents/Health-Trends-Report/HTR-Designed-Version-12.12.18-930am-PT.pdf.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported today that more than 4.1 million individuals selected a 2019 health plan through HealthCare.gov between November 1 and December 8, including more than 934,000 last week. Almost three-quarters of those selecting plans were renewing coverage and the rest were new consumers. The report shows total plan selections for the period in the 39 states using HealthCare.gov for 2019 open enrollment, which runs through Dec. 15.
More information can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/weekly-enrollment-snapshot-week-6.
A new issue brief from the Commonwealth Fund shows how the modest increase in postacute care spending per beneficiary between 2007 and 2015 reflected dramatic changes in annual spending and care utilization growth rates. Postacute care spending growth slowed less among Medicare beneficiaries who had been hospitalized, suggesting these beneficiaries may continue to use costly postacute care at elevated rates.
The issue brief can be obtained at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/sites/default/files/2018-12/Keohane_trends_postacute_care_spending_ib.pdf.
Many residents of rural counties are affected negatively by shortages of health personnel and long travel distances to health care facilities. Just as importantly, their ability to access services can depend on having enough income to meet out-of-pocket health expenses. The U.S. Census Bureau released 2013-2017 five-year estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS) for every county in the nation, which show that in general, median household income is higher in urban counties than in rural areas. Likewise, poverty rates tend to be lower in urban areas than in rural areas.
Data can be obtained at https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/12/differences-in-income-growth-across-united-states-counties.html?eml=gd&utm_campaign=20181210msacos1ccstors&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.
Overall national health spending grew at a rate of 3.9 percent in 2017, almost 1.0 percentage point slower than growth in 2016, according to a study conducted by the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS. Medicare spending grew at about the same rate in 2017 as in 2016, while Medicaid spending grew at a slower rate in 2017 than in 2016.
The report can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NationalHealthAccountsHistorical.html.
The 2017 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report assesses the performance of the U.S. healthcare system and identifies areas of strengths and weaknesses, as well as disparities, for access to healthcare and quality of healthcare. Quality is described according to six priorities: patient safety, person-centered care, care coordination, effective treatment, healthy living, and care affordability. The document is based on more than 250 measures of quality and disparities covering a broad array of healthcare services and settings.
The report can be obtained at https://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/research/findings/nhqrdr/2017nhqdr.pdf.
As a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), ASAHP participated in this year’s NASEM Global Forum for Innovation in Health Professions Education, held November 12-14, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Anthony Breitbach PhD, ATC, FASAHP, represented ASAHP. Topics covered included professionalism, social contexts of mental health, the impact of traumatic stress on health, the needs of future educators, and the role of health professions education in the opioid crisis.
A report on the NASEM Global Forum may be accessed here.
A new report from the Brookings Institution examines investigate whether and to what extent the ways Medicare pays for physician and hospital services and subsidizes graduate medical education (GME) in teaching hospitals either fosters or acts as an impediment to achieving a mix of specialists and primary care physicians consistent with more effective and efficient delivery of health care
The report can be obtained at https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Steinwald_Ginsburg_Brandt_Lee_Patel_GME-Funding_12.3.181.pdf.
A new report by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in collaboration with the Departments of the Treasury and Labor, the Federal Trade Commission, and several offices within the White House describes the influence of state and federal laws, regulations, guidance, and polices on choice and competition in health care markets and identifies actions that states or the Federal Government could take to develop a better functioning health care market.
The report can be obtained at https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Reforming_Americas_Healthcare_System_Through_Choice_and_Competition.pdf.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced announced four concepts that states can use to promote health coverage options under Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act: account-based subsidies, state-specific premium assistance, adjusted plan options, and risk stabilization strategies.
The announcement can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/State-Innovation-Waivers/Downloads/Waiver-Concepts-Guidance.PDF.
The U.S. Department of Education has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on Title IX. The proposed rulemaking would clarify and modify Title IX regulatory requirements and specify how recipient schools and institutions covered by Title IX must respond to incidents of sexual harassment. Public comments are due on or before January 28, 2019.
More information may be accessed here.
