In Latest Swipe At Health Law, ACO Program That Failed To Save Government Billions Will Be Overhauled
Accountable care organizations were set up under the Affordable Care Act with the intention of improving quality and efficiency. But government data shows that they've fallen short of the savings that were projected. "After six years of experience, the time has come to put real 'accountability' in Accountable Care Organizations," CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a statement. "Medicare cannot afford to support programs with weak incentives that do not deliver value."
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration Proposes Further Dismantling Of Affordable Care Act Through Medicare
The Trump administration is proposing to restrict an innovation in the Affordable Care Act, which was intended to improve Medicare and slow spending in the vast federal insurance system for older Americans. Health-care researchers hail the model’s promise to improve quality and efficiency, but government data suggest it is not saving enough money. The changes, announced Thursday by the administrator of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, would significantly curtail Accountable Care Organizations. The ACOs can be teams of doctors, hospitals or other providers who become responsible for all the health-care needs of a specific group of patients. (Goldstein, 8/9)
In other national health care news —
The New York Times:
Companies Respond To An Urgent Health Care Need: Transportation
As America’s baby boomers are hitting 65 at a rate of 10,000 a day, and healthier lifestyles are keeping them in their homes longer, demand is escalating for a little talked-about — yet critical — health care-related job: Transporting people to and from nonemergency medical appointments. “It’s going to become a massive phenomena,” said Ken Dychtwald, founder and chief executive of Age Wave, a consulting firm specializing in age-related issues. “This is an unmet need that’s going to be in the tens of millions of people.” (Morrissey, 8/9)
The Associated Press:
Court Orders Ban On Harmful Pesticide, Says EPA Violated Law
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration endangered public health by keeping a widely used pesticide on the market despite extensive scientific evidence that even tiny levels of exposure can harm babies' brains. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to remove chlorpyrifos from sale in the United States within 60 days. (8/9)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Democratic Party’s New Litmus Test: Gun Control
During her 2010 U.S. House campaign, Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona highlighted her “A” rating from the National Rifle Association. She opposed gun-control measures and regaled constituents in her largely rural district with stories of hunting with her father. In 2018, Ms. Kirkpatrick is running to return to the House espousing a gun-control platform that is among the country’s most aggressive. She is for universal background checks and a ban on guns described as assault weapons. She disavows her longstanding position as a “proud gun owner,” saying she gave away the hunting rifles inherited from her father. “I do not have any guns in my home,” she says. (Epstein, 8/9)
The Hill:
Ocasio-Cortez: 'Medicare For All' Is ‘Not A Pipe Dream’
New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) on Wednesday said her policy proposal of "Medicare for all" is "not a pipe dream." "I think at the end of the day, we see that this is not a pipe dream," Ocasio-Cortez said on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time." (Birnbaum, 8/9)
Stat:
Tumor Cells Can Unleash Tiny Weapons To Ward Off Immune System Attacks
Scientists have discovered that cancer cells can release tiny weapons called exosomes that target immune cells before they have a chance to reach a tumor. The findings, published Wednesday in Nature, point to the exosomes as a potential biomarker to predict which patients might respond to anti-PD-1 therapies. The cancer treatments target PD-1, a checkpoint protein on immune T cells. Tumor cells that express another protein, PD-L1, can bind to the PD-1 on T cells to inhibit the immune system’s ability to attack cancer cells. The University of Pennsylvania researchers are hoping that measuring exosome levels might offer insight into whether an anti-PD-1 therapy would work for a particular patient. (Thielking, 8/9)