Also In the News

Certain Major Businesses Object To ACA Auto-Enrollment.
The Hill (7/23, Al-Faruque) reports on a letter sent to Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) from major businesses who “want to overturn an ObamaCare provision that requires large employers to enroll workers automatically into a health insurance program.” In the letter the businesses, which included 7-Eleven, Lowe’s, Petco Animal Supplies, and White Castle, lamented that the auto-enrollment process “is redundant, expensive and unnecessarily burdensome for employers without increasing employees’ access to coverage.” Senator Isakson has drafted a bill to overturn the mandate.

UNC Hospitals To Face Medicare Cuts Under ACA Provision.
The Chapel Hill (NC) Chapelboro (7/23, Streeter) reports that UNC hospital are facing the prospect of having to “pay millions in Medicare penalties for a high number of patient infections and complications.” Executive Vice President and CEO of the hospital system laments that “Medicare is comparing all hospitals across the country, but it isn’t making any adjustments or consideration for how sick the patients are to begin with. So if one hospital takes more sicker patients than another, it’s reasonable to think that there may be, in the aggregate, more infections.”

Many Dual-Eligibles Opting Out Of Voluntary Coordinated Care Initiatives.
Modern Healthcare (7/22, Subscription Publication) reports that many dual-eligibles “are opting out at high rates from voluntary state initiatives aimed at better coordinating their care.” Under an Affordable Care Act provision, “the CMS Innovation Center invited states to launch three-year demonstration projects that would align care for dual-eligibles.” So far, 11 states are participating. Massachusetts is the only state that has “studied why so many beneficiaries are declining to participate.” A focus group held in February revealed that patients are afraid of possible service restrictions and of losing trusted physicians and other healthcare professionals.

Original Article can be found at the bulletinhealthcare.com