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As one of his first orders of business president Trump signed an executive order to "lessen the economic burden" of Ocare. The order would offer broad guidance for states and agencies to make changes as permitted by law, it could end the individual mandate and expand Medicaid waivers at the state level. It encourages the use of interstate insurance and may also get rid of the medical taxes on pharmaceutical companies and health insurers.
The House passed and sent to the Senate a bill to repeal major portions of Ocare by defunding using of the budget. No actual programs were removed.
CMS has issued a final rule regarding states with Medicaid Managed Care Plans. They have stopped pass through payments which will deny providers, hospitals and clinics a lot of money.
California withdrew its request to the feds to sell unsubsidized medical insurance to undocumented aliens. They realized the error of their ways under Trump.
The People's Republic of Massachusetts is all about socialism. They are capping the money spent on providers to 160% of the large amount that Medicare pays. This is to even out the money between hospitals. The big boy hospitals would see their pay reduced to what Podunk Hospital gets.
Minnesota Governor Dayton signed into law a bill that approved $326 million to help pay for the subsidies for Ocare. He didn't like that the premiums went sky high due to the poor insurance planning. This may decrease payments by as much as 25% for the year. This is for the people that buy individual policies without subsidies This is good for this year for the but may mean even higher premiums next year if there is more Ocare. Top
The University of Vermont has asked the state under a CON for permission to spend the ridiculous sum of $112 million to implement Epic. they are planning to use its existing capital budget to fund the boondoggle. They say it will take 40 months to implement. Watch for major cost and time overruns.
California has fined Laguna Honda, the huge SF hospital, $100,000 for allowing a demented male in a wheel chair to fall out while on an outing to a movie. The employees who accompanied him failed to lock the wheels. He suffered a broken hip and died two weeks later. This is the largest fine allowed.
California also fined Kaiser Health Plan $2.5 million for failing to turn over required data to the state's Medicaid program. Kaiser uses Epic and still can not give the information. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the
time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers
should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the
information presented.