HHS
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CMS: 3.4M People Have Enrolled in ACA Marketplace Health Plans
This represents a 17% increase in total ACA plan selections — both through HealthCare.gov and state-based Marketplaces — compared with last year, CMS said. Enrollment through the federal HealthCare.gov has especially seen a rise of 40% from the same period last year.
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HHS: ACA Marketplace enrollment grew among minority populations in 2022
Latino and Black communities saw the largest increase in Marketplace enrollment. HHS credited the rise partially to improved outreach and education efforts.
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Payer’s Place: Dawn Maroney
Dawn Maroney, President, Markets of Alignment Health and CEO of Alignment Health Plan, to discuss how they are using technology to provide better service and care to consumers.
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Hackers are exploiting the very security tools providers use to protect themselves, HHS warns
Cybercriminals are weaponizing the same tools that healthcare providers use to operate and maintain secure IT systems, HHS warned in a recent report. Providers can protect themselves by having a firm grasp of what their IT environment looks like, as this may help them spot any suspicious security tool commands.
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HHS: Prescription drug costs have skyrocketed in recent years
From July 2021 to July 2022, 1,216 prescription drugs saw price increases that soared past the inflation rate of 8.5% for that time period, one HHS report showed. Another reported that in 2021, the American healthcare system spent $603 billion on prescription drugs, of which $421 billion was spent on retail drugs.
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Top Story, Consumer / Employer
15 million Medicaid/CHIP enrollees will lose coverage after Covid-19 public health emergency ends
Based on historical data, about 17.4% of Medicaid/CHIP enrollees will leave the program once the Covid-19 public health emergency ends. This is because the continuous enrollment requirement, which prohibited states from disenrolling Medicaid participants, will halt.
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Building a national cybersecurity infrastructure is ‘virtually impossible’ without better federal collaboration
The federal government has established various departments and initiatives to promote cybersecurity among healthcare organizations, but experts say these efforts require more cross-agency collaboration in order to be effective. Most urgently, many cybersecurity experts are calling for the FDA to spend more time collaborating with other federal agencies on cybersecurity recommendations for medical devices.
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Provider groups sue as surprise billing enforcement nears
The American Medical Association, American Hospital Association and other provider groups are suing the Department of Health and Human Services over a small but important detail of how it is implementing surprise billing legislation. They argue that the arbitration process for unresolved disputes currently favors insurers.
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Telehealth visits increased 63-fold for Medicare patients, according to HHS study
A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that telehealth use increased 63-fold during the pandemic. But it also found significant disparities in telehealth use between urban and rural residents.
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Report: $27B remains unspent in Covid-19 Provider Relief Fund
Of the billions of dollars provided by the government to support providers during the pandemic, $11.7 billion has been allocated but not spent, $7.1 billion has not been allocated and $8 billion has been returned for various reasons, including that the organization recovered faster than expected.
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Applying Remote Patient Monitoring to Surgery Prep and Recovery, Oncology and Women’s Health
Join us to learn about the latest trends in remote monitoring and how to extend its benefits beyond chronic conditions to more patients – all while using fewer staff resources.
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Feds provide payment resolution process in new surprise billing rule
Per the new interim final rule, parties that cannot agree on out-of-network payment rates must enter into a 30-day open negotiation period. If that fails, an independent entity will be engaged to make the final decision.
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New HHS proposed rule requires payers to disclose broker rates, share air ambulance data
HHS wants insurers offering individual and short-term, limited-duration coverage to disclose to members the rates they pay to brokers who help people select health plans. The government also wants to collect air ambulance data to help curb the high and unexpected costs that arise from these services.
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Analysis: Care for the unvaccinated may be costing U.S. healthcare system $2.3B
The report, released by Kaiser Family Foundation and the Peterson Center on Healthcare, details the high cost of Covid care for the unvaccinated. In fact, the analysis indicates the figure could be even higher than $2.3 billion, as the authors did not take into account the cost of outpatient treatment for Covid-19.
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Judge blocks HHS from requiring religious providers to perform gender-transition, abortion procedures
The permanent injunction prevents HHS from interpreting a section of the ACA, which bans discrimination, to include gender identity and pregnancy status. This move prohibits the federal agency from penalizing religious providers for refusing to perform or provide insurance coverage for gender-transition surgeries and abortions.
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Report: First half of 2021 sees massive spike in number of data breach victims
Provider organizations accounted for 73% of all data breaches reported to the HHS in the first six months of 2021, impacting about 22.7 million individuals overall, a new report shows. This represents a 185% jump in individuals affected compared to the same period last year.
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Report: Federal agencies fighting healthcare fraud recouped $3.1B in 2020
Spearheaded by the Departments of Justice, and Health and Human Services, efforts to investigate and prosecute healthcare fraud resulted in the government recovering billions, including about $2.1 billion for the Medicare Trust Funds.
Promoted
Payer’s Place: Dr. Anil Singh
Dr. Anil Singh shares his insights into the strategies employed by the organization to identify the most effective digital solutions for their members.
Promoted
Discover the Next-Gen Platform for Integrated Collaborative Care
Beyond EHRs and digital front doors, reducing the gaps in patient care journeys.
