What’s happening: Using the system developed by the Hospital Association of Oregon, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has launched implementation of a statewide, real-time bed tracking system: the Hospital Bed and Emergency Medical Services System (HBEDS).
What else to know: On April 3, CHA is hosting a members-only webinar to share CDPH’s goals for HBEDS and how it works. Registration is open for CHA members.
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What’s happening: At its most recent meeting, the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) board elected Kim Johnson, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, as its new chair — and considered potential adoption of hospital sector targets, a provisional approach to measuring hospital spending, and a proposal for tracking quality and equity.
What else to know: Ahead of the meeting, CHA wrote to the board on these topics, urging further learning and progress toward implementation before adopting sector targets; supporting a comprehensive yet streamlined approach to measuring quality, equity, and access; and asking that the behavioral health investment goal consider the full continuum of behavioral health services.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its proposed rule on payments to skilled-nursing facilities (SNFs) for fiscal year (FY) 2023. Comments on the proposed rule are due by 2 p.m. (PT) on June 10.
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CIf your family is anything like mine, every Thanksgiving we take turns around the table, and everyone shares something they’re particularly thankful for this year.
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Last year’s stay-at-home mandates, plus a need to limit the spread of COVID-19, caused many health care facilities to cancel in-person visits and procedures. The result? Telehealth visits — seeing a health care professional by phone or video conference rather than going into their office — increased by leaps and bounds.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that both insured and uninsured people can get COVID-19 vaccines, including the new bivalent Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster, at no cost, for as long as the federal government continues purchasing and distributing them.
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With tens of thousands of gun deaths per year nationwide, it often feels like it’s just a matter of time before the wheel of tragedy stops close to home.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its proposed rule updating payments to hospice facilities for fiscal year (FY) 2022. Comments on the proposed rule are due by 2 p.m. (PT) on June 7.
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Today, President Biden signed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package that will bring much-needed relief to a wide swath of the country including: an extension of jobless supplement programs, direct $1,400 payments to most Americans, an expansion of the child tax credit, support for restaurants, rental assistance, support for schools, and billions of dollars to state and local governments.
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With the legislative year coming to an end in Sacramento last week, and important signing decisions yet to be made by the Governor, our advocacy in Washington, D.C., is heating up.
Congress returned Sept. 9 facing a full legislative agenda. Because neither party wants another government shutdown, the House of Representatives passed a measure to keep funding flowing through Nov. 21. The Senate is expected to consider that legislation in the next few days.
There’s also a full slate of health care issues up for debate in the coming months, so it was important that we took the opportunity last week, alongside nearly two dozen of California’s hospital CEOs, and with our partners at the American Hospital Association, to spend time with members of the California congressional delegation to discuss the issues most important to your hospitals and your patients.
As we made the rounds on Capitol Hill, some common themes emerged:
• Surprise billing: This issue is top of mind for Congress. Over the summer, one House committee reported legislation, the No Surprises Act; two others are expected to craft additional bills, and we could see a House floor vote sometime this fall. This week, the issue took on a new depth when the House announced an investigation into private equity firms that own physician-staffing companies, and whether they use out-of-network billing as an intentional strategy. In the meantime, we’ll keep reinforcing our message that hospitals support taking patients out of the middle when it comes to out-of-network bills, but we stand firmly against rate setting as part of the solution.
• Eliminating payment cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share hospitals (DSH): Set to take effect Oct. 1, cuts to Medicaid DSH hospitals will be unsustainable for many hospitals and could sever the safety net for your most vulnerable patients. We’re fighting hard on this one, urging that the cuts be eliminated or – at a minimum – delayed. The good news is that we have strong support in Congress, and a delay in the cuts for the first quarter of the 2020 fiscal year is part of the current House bill to temporarily fund the government. It’s good to be part of “must-pass” legislation, and we’ll keep pressing to get this done.
• Drug pricing: Reducing consumer drug prices remains a high priority for both Congress and the president. As we monitor those evolving efforts, we’re engaged in discussions with California congressional leaders to fully understand the various forms any pending legislation might take, as well as any impact on patients and hospitals.
As we continue to fight for policies that help you care for your patients and communities, last week’s meetings in the nation’s capital make clear that our greatest strength is in our unity, and when you lend your personal voice to the conversation, our message resonates. Thanks to all of our AHA regional policy board representatives who traveled to set the stage for our senators and representatives as they prepare to make decisions that will affect all of your hospitals.
— Carmela