CEO Message

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“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.”
~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

The 2020 federal and state elections are now in the books (mostly). As of Thursday afternoon, at the federal level: 

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The 2020 presidential, congressional, and state races, along with several important ballot initiatives, will be decided by voters in just a few days, and while the election can feel all-consuming at times, the mission of health care providers remains unchanged as you press on through a pandemic whose spread is accelerating each week. 

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Last week, America’s hospitals faced a challenging day in an appeals court in Washington, D.C., where a panel of judges appeared skeptical of legal arguments in the American Hospital Association’s (AHA’s) attempt to overturn a federal rule requiring hospitals to disclose confidential, privately negotiated payment rates with insurers —  a fight we are in together.

If the rule is not struck down, it will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021. It is not clear when the court will issue a decision, but one is expected ahead of the effective date.

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Across the world, researchers are racing to develop a safe vaccine for COVID-19 and, depending on their progress, approval of one or more vaccines could come as soon as the next couple of months or, more likely, into the second quarter of 2021. And then, mass production of vaccine would just begin. 

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As California makes the steady, grim climb toward 20,000 deaths resulting from COVID-19, policy makers and the leaders of front-line health care organizations already are turning some of their attention to how we can improve our response when widespread disasters strike in the future. 

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Late Tuesday, the state took an important step toward improving health care for millions of Californians when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 890, which allows highly qualified and certified nurse practitioners (NPs) to provide primary care as they practice to the full extent of their training. 

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If this was a normal year, late September would be a good time to offer a light reminder to the public about getting a flu shot.  

Doing so helps reduce avoidable strain on hospital emergency departments, helps kids stay in school, parents stay at work, and in the most severe cases, saves lives for people most susceptible to the virus. 

But this is 2020. 

So even something as routine as an annual flu shot reminder takes on heightened importance. 

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On Monday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its intent to withdraw a proposal that would have cut total Medicaid funding by as much as $49 billion annually (8% of the program).  

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Earlier this week, Governor Newsom shared some encouraging news about California’s COVID-19 positivity rate, which dropped by 2 percentage points, to 4%, over the past 14 days compared to the two weeks prior. 

We’re moving in the right direction, but we would be remiss to think we’ve truly turned the corner on this pandemic. Rather, this progress means we must be even more vigilant, to guard against a premature resumption of activities that could set us back months.