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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Cartoon – Corporate Transparency Today
Calif. hospital to pay 3 former employees $1.7M in harassment suit
Community Hospital of Long Beach (Calif.) and the former manager of the hospital’s psychiatric unit have been ordered to pay $1.7 million to three ex-employees who alleged they were subjected to sexual harassment and discrimination, according to the Long Beach Patch.
The plaintiffs accused Keith Kohl, RN, who directed the hospital’s psychiatric unit and was employed by Memorial Psychiatric Health Services, of discrimination. The female plaintiffs alleged Mr. Kohl flaunted his homosexuality, creating a hostile work environment. They further alleged he gave preferential treatment to gay males.
In their suit, the plaintiffs argued their employment with the hospital was wrongfully terminated, while the hospital claimed they had been fired for putting a patient in restraints without a physician’s orders and lying during an investigation into the incident.
After nearly three hours of deliberation, the jury issued a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, finding evidence of sexual harassment, discrimination, failure to prevent harassment and discrimination, wrongful termination, defamation and negligent supervision.
Wall Street Journal combs through nonprofit hospitals’ board-business ties: 6 things to know
As some of the largest nonprofits in the U.S., hospitals face a major challenge — their board members or executives often have direct ties to organizations with which the hospital does business, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Here are six things to know about nonprofit hospitals and their business associations, according toWSJ.
Eleven ways MACRA will impact your business
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, known as MACRA, is one of the most significant payment changes since Medicare’s inception in 1965.
“Physicians and other clinicians payments will be at risk, beginning with a plus or minus swing of 4% in 2019, that increases to plus or minus 9% by 2023,” says Chester A. Speed, JD, LLM, vice president, public policy, AMGA.
To be successful under MACRA, providers will have to consider the clinical, financial and cultural changes they need to make to do well under risk, according to Speed.
“And while providers can rightfully say they’ve seen this before in the 1990s, risk, or value-based payments are now written into law and they are here to stay,” he says.
What impact will MACRA have on your organization? We asked experts to tell us.
Cartoon – Clean Hands Save Lives
Presidential election: 4 things managed care should watch
As the 2016 presidential election approaches, analysts and experts are advising healthcare executives to watch and monitor certain issues, such as pharmaceutical spending and healthcare reform, which will surely impact the health insurance industry. Here’s a look at what they recommend keeping a close eye on in particular.
ACA Marketplaces: Stressed but Fixable
Negative headlines in the past few weeks seem to suggest deep trouble for the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) marketplaces. Several insurance plans have requested double-digit premium increases for 2017—and Aetna is the third major insurer to announce it is pulling out of several state marketplaces next year. But how concerned should we be about these developments and are there policy options to consider?
This year, premium requests by carriers have been higher on average than last year. Part of the reason for the increase is the phase-out of the law’s reinsurance program, which reimbursed carriers for high claims costs. The program has lowered premiums by as much as 14 percent, and without it carriers are raising their premiums to compensate. But even if final premiums in many plans are higher, most people who will enroll in marketplace plans this year will not pay much more than they did in 2015. This is because more than 80 percent of marketplace enrollees receive tax credits to help pay their premiums, which means most of the increase will be absorbed by the credits. Marketplace customers are also highly price-sensitive and will likely shop for the best deal. Last year, people who received tax credits through the federal marketplace experienced an average premium increase of only 4 percent.
Cartoon – Service is our Middle Name
Cartoon – Ah Ha, We found the Problem!
