Monthly Archives: September 2016

Aetna’s Bertolini counters accusation of power play against DOJ

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http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/aetnas-bertolini-counters-accusation-of-power-play-against-doj/426236/

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http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-bertolini-senators-20160912-story.html

  • Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini has responded to a letter from a group of senators who accused the company last week of exiting the majority of its ACA markets as a ploy against the federal government for challenging Aetna’s proposed merger with Humana.
  • Bertolini dismissed the senators’ arguments as”unfounded accusations,” the Hartford Courant reported.
  • Aetna spokesman T.J. Crawford told the Courant the company had not received a response from the senators.

Corporate Executives Are Making Way More Money Than Anybody Reports

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http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/09/executives-making-way-more-than-reported/499850/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20Weekly%20Roundup:%20Healthcare%20Dive%2009-17-2016&utm_term=Healthcare%20Dive%20Weekender

There are two methods for measuring compensation. One appears everywhere. The other is correct.

Through stock buybacks of this magnitude, executives effectively participate in the looting of the corporations they run.

Employers shift costs with 12% surge in deductibles

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http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/employers-shift-costs-with-12-surge-in-deductibles/426292/

  • The average deductible for employer-sponsored health plans has risen 12% this year to $1,478 annually, and has exceeded $2,000 at small businesses, according to a new Kaiser/HRET survey, which looked at more than 1,900 small and large employers to analyze the trends around employer-sponsored health insurance.
  • The rapid increase in deductibles, which puts more healthcare costs on the shoulders of employees, has been a significant factor in helping employer-sponsored plans slow down their premium increases to “historically low rates,” the study found. It noted that since 2011 the average family premium has gone up just 20%, compared to 31% from 2006 and 2011, and 63% from 2001 to 2006.
  • The analysis illustrates the shift between plan types, showing 29% of all employees are now in high-deductible plans compared to 20% in 2014, while those employees in higher cost PPO plans have gone down from 58% in 2014 to 48% in 2016.

AHA urges CMS to withdraw Medicaid DSH proposal

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http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/aha-urges-cms-to-withdraw-medicaid-dsh-proposal.html

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Click to access 160914-cl-medicaid-dsh.pdf

The American Hospital Association submitted a letter Tuesday to CMS, asking the agency to withdraw a proposed rule to include third-party payments when calculating the hospital-specific limitation on Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments.

In its proposal, CMS says the rule is simply a clarification on existing policy.

“Specifically, the rule would make clearer in the text of the regulation that uncompensated care costs include only those costs for Medicaid eligible individuals that remain after accounting for payments received by hospitals or on behalf of Medicaid eligible individuals, including Medicare and other third-party payments that compensate the hospitals for care furnished to such individuals,” the proposed rule states.

In the letter to CMS, the AHA argues the proposed rule is more than a clarification and actually establishes new policy. According to the AHA, CMS proposed the rule to avoid potentially unfavorable rulings in cases pending in federal court that address the DSH payment calculation.

20 financial benchmarks for hospital executives

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http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/20-financial-benchmarks-for-hospital-executives-091316.html

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Here are 20 benchmarks related to one of the most important day-to-day areas hospital executives oversee — finance.

Source: Moody’s Investors Service, “U.S. Not-for-Profit Hospital 2015 Medians” report, September 2016.

The medians are based on an analysis of audited 2015 financial statements for 340 freestanding hospitals, single-state health systems and multi-state health systems, representing 81 percent of all Moody’s rated healthcare entities. Children’s hospitals, hospitals for which five years of data are not available and certain specialty hospitals were not eligible for inclusion in the medians.

Senior finance executives name their top 10 RCM initiatives

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http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/senior-finance-executives-name-their-top-10-rcm-initiatives.html

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To optimize revenue cycle workflows, senior healthcare finance executives are more likely to implement updated IT and hire additional staff than contract with outside consulting services, according to a recent survey by Connance.

Connance, in conjunction with Porter Research, surveyed 93 senior finance executives in an 11-question online survey regarding their organizations’ revenue cycle improvement priorities. Respondents completed the questionnaire in July.

Below are six survey findings.

Ascension’s expansion efforts pay off as operating surplus swells to $753M

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http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/ascension-s-expansion-efforts-pay-off-as-operating-surplus-swells-to-753m.html

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Click to access ES819017-ES642670-.pdf

St. Louis-based Ascension reported $21.9 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2015, up 6.6 percent from revenue of $20.5 billion in the year prior, according to financial documents filed with bondholders.

The financial boost was partially attributable to an increase in patient volume due to Ascension’s expansion efforts in the past year. During the year ended June 30, 2016, Ascension acquired Glendale, Wis.-based Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare and added hospitals in Michigan and Tennessee as well.

Including these recently acquired facilities, the nonprofit system said inpatient admissions and inpatient surgeries increased 3.2 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, as compared to the year prior. Ascension also said emergency room visits increased 3.7 percent year over year.

After accounting for a year-over-year increase in expenses of 6.1 percent, Ascension ended FY 2015 with an operating surplus of $753.2 million, up from $696.5 million in the year prior.