Battle of the bulls: Aetna threatened ACA participation over Humana merger blockage

http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/battle-of-the-bulls-aetna-threatened-aca-participation-over-humana-merger/424640/

  • In July, Aetna sent a letter to the Justice Department insinuating it would leave the ACA market if its pending merger with Humana was blocked by the DOJ, The Huffington Post reported.
  • Aetna announced late Monday it was exiting nearly 70% of the ACA markets it participated in next year (parsing down 778 counties to 242).
  • On Monday, CEO Mark Bertolini cited losses in the millions as the reason for the decision. However, the July letter obtained by The Huffington Post implies the decision was more influenced by the Justice Department lawsuit.

Discussion on issues in adaptive design for clinical trials with Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt and Dr. Cyrus Mehta

 

Will Your Prescription Meds Be Covered Next Year? Better Check!

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/15/489790412/will-your-prescription-meds-be-covered-next-year-better-check

Express Scripts assures patients it has a policy of not putting cancer medicine or mental health drugs on the list of products it excludes from its formulary.

The battle continues to rage between drug companies that are trying to make as much money as possible and insurers trying to drive down drug prices. And consumers are squarely in the middle.

That’s because, increasingly, prescription insurers are threatening to kick drugs off their lists of approved medications if the manufacturers won’t give them big discounts.

Healthcare, holding politicians accountable among top concerns for US Hispanics

http://www.dailynews.com/social-affairs/20160816/healthcare-holding-politicians-accountable-among-top-concerns-for-us-hispanics?utm_campaign=CHL%3A+Daily+Edition&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=33045560&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–sDlffUnvzl4kd2HbOJpvdFMdiYOIiKusnuv4i_Q7cZizQGgs7326JwDMZ_6RNsry6HDY1Ndf5Ieypa7IROhZPMbEqAg&_hsmi=33045560

One of several panel discussions at the Aspen Institute Latinos and Society second annual “America’s Future: Reimagining Opportunity in a Changing Nation” summit at the California Endowment on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016 in Los Angeles.

Quality affordable healthcare and holding elected officials accountable for their decisions are among the highest priorities for Hispanics in the U.S., according to a new Harris Poll survey.

Seventy-seven percent of Hispanics surveyed rated quality affordable healthcare as “absolutely essential/extremely important” to improving opportunity in their community while 76 percent rated holding elected officials accountable as “absolutely essential/extremely important,” said Abigail Golden-Vazquez, executive director of The Aspen Institute’s Latinos and Society Program, at the institute’s second annual America’s Future Summit on Tuesday at the California Endowment in downtown Los Angeles.

Hospital Bond Rally Undeterred by Latest Threat to End Obamacare

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-25/hospital-bond-rally-undeterred-by-latest-threat-to-end-obamacare

The $250 billion municipal hospital-bond market is proving immune to Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate Obamacare.

Sutter Health is among nonprofits tapping demand for the tax-free debt, with the California chain planning to sell $850 million in new securities this week. Health-care bonds are beating the overall $3.7 trillion municipal market for a third straight year as the federal law expanding medical coverage to Americans improves business. Despite the Republican presidential nominee’s goal, the rally has been undaunted as investors hunt for yield while rates hold near record lows.

“There’s lots of demand with all of the money pouring in,” said Mike Quinn, a managing director at Chicago-based investment bank Ziegler, which underwrites bonds for hospitals. “This is a really great environment for health-care borrowers to issue tax-exempt money.”

Top 10 Takeaways from the HealthLeaders Media CFO Exchange

http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/finance/top-10-takeaways-healthleaders-media-cfo-exchange?spMailingID=9358582&spUserID=MTMyMzQyMDQxMTkyS0&spJobID=981233298&spReportId=OTgxMjMzMjk4S0#

Compass and Dollars

More than three dozen top healthcare finance executives share insight and strategies for tackling their toughest business challenges.

Participants at the 2017 HealthLeaders Media CFO Exchangein Coeur d’Alene, Idaho last week said they are generally optimistic about weathering the storm of regulatory changes, new payment models, and shifting market forces buffeting their organizations.

The finance executives at the invitation-only event also shared many mutual concerns such as offsetting traditional revenue-stream declines at hospitals and assessing the appetite to adopt value-based care models in their markets.

Here are 10 of the most insightful comments from the gathered finance leaders:

Hospital CEO pay soars as limitation efforts stumble

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/healthcare/hospital-ceo-pay-soars-as-limitation-efforts-stumble?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal&mrkid=959610&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWWpneVlUYzNNamxqT1RZeCIsInQiOiJYa3JjTitjbjB0cW4wNnd6VDVRUTZHMUdtYUM5a0Yxd1A3bW1rQzMwU0hmMStleVhSTHBkRW5EYWEzWXRrVlwvcFwvV080QVROc1MybitpTkF1TTF4YUNobHNRT2hrRStmZHNZMktcL3MzOXZkbz0ifQ%3D%3D

Healthcare has some of the highest CEO pay growth of any industry and it shows no signs of slowing down.

In Massachusetts, hospital chief executives saw a pay bump throughout the state from 2013 to 2014, with the steepest raise of all going to Brigham and Women’s Hospital President Elizabeth Nabel, M.D., according to the Boston Business Journal.

The newspaper reports that Nabel’s total compensation soared 120 percent to $5.5 million in 2014. To put that in perspective, the publication noted that Gary Gottlieb, M.D., CEO of Brigham and Women’s parent company Partners Healthcare, and Nabel’s boss at the time, made $3.1 million. Most of Nabel’s compensation–$3.9 million–wasn’t even base salary, but rather retirement and nontaxable benefits.

Central Ohio hospital chief executives are seeing similarly big paydays, according to Columbus Business First. For example, Dave Blom, chief executive of Columbus’ OhioHealth Corp., led the region in compensation, with his base salary and performance bonuses coming to $2.64 million, with Steven Gabbe, M.D., who served as CEO of Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center January to March 2015, a distant second with $1.57 million.

The exorbitant paychecks for hospital CEOs have raised concerns among some consumer advocates, who say they hurt patients, but efforts to rein them in have had limited success.

6 thoughts on the state of healthcare from Scripps’ Chris Van Gorder

http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/6-thoughts-on-the-state-of-healthcare-from-scripps-chris-van-gorder.html

Self-DiscoverySelf-Discovery

Faced with ever-changing rules and regulations, hospital and health system CEOs must constantly keep a pulse on the healthcare industry and be ready to alter their organizational strategy any day of the week. Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of San Diego-based Scripps Health, talked to Becker’s Hospital Review about some of the biggest challenges and successes that are currently top of mind.

Mr. Van Gorder has led Scripps, a $2.9 billion integrated health system, since 2000. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and served as the 2010 chairman of the association.

His exposure to healthcare began as a hospital patient when he was critically injured while responding to a family dispute. After a long recovery, Mr. Van Gorder started a new career in hospital security, eventually rising through the ranks of healthcare management. Today, in addition to serving as Scripps’ president and CEO, he is a reserve assistant sheriff to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, in charge of the Law Enforcement and Search and Rescue Reserves. He also is a licensed emergency medical technician (EMT) and an instructor for the American Red Cross.

Here, Mr. Van Gorder took the time to answer our six questions.

50 states of population health

http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/lists/50-states-of-population-health.html

united-states

We asked hospital executives from every state in America about their No. 1 health concern.

Seven healthcare industry trends to watch

http://managedhealthcareexecutive.modernmedicine.com/managed-healthcare-executive/news/seven-healthcare-industry-trends-watch