CMS Releases hospital specific charges for more than 3,000 hospitals

By Claire Thayer, May 8, 2013

Today, CMS announced the release of hospital-specific charges for the more than 3,000 U.S. hospitals that receive Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) payments for the top 100 most frequently billed discharges, paid under Medicare based on a rate per discharge using the Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. These DRGs represent almost 7 million discharges or 60 percent of total Medicare IPPS discharges.

For these DRGs, average charges and average Medicare payments are calculated at the individual hospital level. Users will be able to make comparisons between the amount charged by individual hospitals within local markets, and nationwide, for services that might be furnished in connection with a particular inpatient stay.

Access reports from here:

http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/Medicare-Provider-Charge-Data/index.html

Comprehensive Assessment of ACA Factors That Will Affect Individual Market Premiums in 2014

By Claire Thayer, May 1, 2013

A new Milliman report, prepared for and at the request of AHIP, outlines how the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) coverage expansion, new benefits, and market reforms will impact individual market health insurance premiums in 2014. The 27 page report highlights how some provisions will increase premiums while others will make health care coverage more affordable for consumers. The report estimates that those eligible for subsidies will receive financial assistance in 2014 to cover, on average, 40 percent of the premium for the silver plan, and as much as 94 percent for those with the lowest incomes. Read more on AHIP's Center for Policy and Research web site: http://www.ahip.org/MillimanReportACA2013/

ACOs now serve 14% of Americans

By Claire Thayer, April 22, 2013

ACOs now serve 14% of Americans according to new research by Oliver Wyman, an increase of 40 percent since August 2012.  This research study finds that the total number of patients in organizations with ACO arrangements with at least one payer—both Medicare and non-Medicare—is now between 37 and 43 million, up from 25 to 31 million—or roughly 14 percent of the population.  If you're in need of Accountable Care decision support analytics, Verisk Health has a white paper that you might find interesting – download directly from this link: http://www.veriskhealth.com/markets/providers/accountable-care-organizations

53% percentage of young adults using social media for healthcare reviews

By Claire Thayer, April 15, 2013

PWC's Health Research Institute released a new report on consumers’ experience in seeking health related information as well as effectiveness of healthcare ratings and reviews.  When consumers in the study were asked on their sources of healthcare reviews, the HRI survey finds that Consumer Reports topped the list of sources, with 43% respondents who have read reviews indicating that they have used the well-known products review source to look for health-related information.  Not surprisingly, there are generational differences too. Consumers age 65 and older prefer government sources for their health-related information, while consumers 18-24 prefer reviews on blogs or social media sites such as Facebook or online patient discussion forums.  For more information about HRI's report - Scoring healthcare: Navigating customer experience ratings, click here: http://www.pwc.com/us/scoringhealthcare

AHIP Announces Launch of new Health System Change Initiative

By Claire Thayer, February 25, 2013

The AHIP Foundation has announced the launch of a new Health System Change Initiative - the Institute for Health Systems Solutions (IHSS). The priorities of the new Institute will focus on:

• Access: Using innovation to improve health care delivery and payment reform
• Innovation: New ideas to improve access
• Smart Regulation: Regulation that creates the fewest unintended consequences

More information, including links to Insights & Resources and News & Activities may be found here: http://www.healthsystemssolutions.org/