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Federal ‘Conscience’ Rule Delayed

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Yesterday, the federal Department of Health and Human Services announced it will delay by four months its expansion of protections for health workers. Referred to as the “conscience rule,” the regulation would protect health care workers who refuse to participate in services — such as abortion, sterilization, and assisted suicide — that run counter to their religious beliefs or moral convictions.

A Shining Example of National Ideals

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While much of the nation prepares this week for the July 4 summer holiday, hospitals and their dedicated employees will continue their 24/7 work to care for any and all who need them, at any moment.

In California, the Independence Day weekend isn’t just a beginning-of-summer holiday — it also marks a few days of heightened risk at the start of a perilous fire season. One thing Californians have learned over the past several years of wildfires: hospitals and the people who work in them are ready, willing, and able to do what’s needed when disaster strikes.

Yes, there are the hospital emergency operations plans; the standards, regulations, and statutes; the staff training and education; and everything else hospitals do in case of an emergency. But there are also the people who dedicate themselves to their communities and their neighbors in need, no matter the strained circumstances or personal difficulty. 

CMS Modifies Medicare Shared Savings Program Overlap Policy for BPCI Advanced Model

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As referenced in a recently updated FAQ, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has been considering how to address model overlap between Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced) and the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) for Model Year 3, beginning Jan. 1, 2020. In an email last week to BPCI Advanced participants, CMS announced that, for Model Year 3 reconciliation calculations, BPCI Advanced will no longer exclude MSSP beneficiaries.

Agenda Set for 2019 Disaster Planning Conference

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California may experience any number of disasters in the coming years — from fires to flooding, and more. The agenda for this year’s Disaster Planning for California Hospitals Conference, to be held Sept. 10-11 in Pasadena, reflects the diverse skill sets required of our responders. Covering topics such as lessons learned from active shooter events, integrating business continuity and emergency preparedness, creating resiliency across the continuum of care, and earthquake early warning systems, the event is not to be missed.

Next Round of Proposition 56 Graduate Medical Education Funding Available Soon

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This week, Physicians for a Healthy California announced it will award approximately $40 million in the second cycle of its CalMedForce Program, which provides funding for graduate medical education (GME) programs in California. Applications will be released Sept. 23 and are due Oct. 28.

DHCS Releases New Hospital Directed Payment Data Sets

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Last week, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released two new hospital directed payment data sets, available via the Secure File Transfer Protocol site (the site is only intended for file transfers, and uploaded files will be deleted within 45 days). The data cover state fiscal year (SFY) 2017-18 Phase 2 (Jan. 1, 2018 – June 30, 2018) and SFY 2018-19 Phase 1 (July 1, 2018 – Dec. 31, 2018). 

CHA Secures Amendments to Nurse Staffing Ratio Bill, Continues Advocacy to Oppose

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One of CHA’s highest legislative priorities this year has been Senate Bill (SB) 227 (Leyva, D-Chino), which would create duplicative and mandatory fines for hospitals if they do not meet required nurse staffing ratios. With help from member hospitals, our advocacy generated key amendments last week, including:

An exemption for hospitals that — in response to an unforeseeable and uncontrollable fluctuation — promptly make an effort to maintain staffing requirements A 50% reduction in the fines (now $15,000 for the first violation and $30,000 subsequently) A reduction in the length of time required to revert to a first violation (lowered from six years to three)

Health Care Leaders Praise Expansion of Postpartum Mental Health Care

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Health care leaders are praising Gov. Gavin Newsom after he signed a budget bill that expands Medi-Cal services for low-income women diagnosed with postpartum depression from two months post-birth to a full year post-birth. The expansion will help those without health insurance and undocumented immigrants who are ineligible for full Medi-Cal benefits. Reaction from health care leaders:

Sneaky deals are keeping cheaper generic medicines off the market

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It’s bad enough drug companies charge sky-high prices for brand-name prescription meds and raise those prices with regular frequency. Some also cut secret deals to keep cheaper generic alternatives off the market — a practice known as pay for delay.

It’s a bad-faith ploy that affects millions of people, potentially endangering the lives of patients who can’t afford needed medicine.

And it could become illegal in California.

A bill — AB 824 — now making its way through the Legislature would prohibit agreements among drug companies involving “anything of value” changing hands to delay introduction of a generic alternative to a brand-name medicine.

Area Wage Index Battle Presses On

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In a little more than a month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will issue a final rule of significant importance for California’s hospitals: a decision that could alter the way Medicare adjusts hospital payments for geographic differences in labor costs (known as the Area Wage Index).

Their proposal? Take money from hospitals in California with high wages to give to hospitals in states with lower wages. CMS suggests this is an effort to address longstanding inequities in the wage index and to help rural hospitals.