Advocates: Nursing Homes Targeting Most Challenging Patients For Eviction
An analysis by The Associated Press shows complaints about discharges and evictions are up about 57 percent since 2000.
The New York Times:
Nursing Homes Turn To Eviction To Drop Difficult Patients
Nursing homes are increasingly evicting their most challenging residents, advocates for the aged and disabled say, testing protections for some of society's most vulnerable. Those targeted for eviction are frequently poor and suffering from dementia, according to residents' allies. They often put up little fight, their families unsure what to do. Removing them makes room for less labor-intensive and more profitable patients, critics of the tactic say, noting it can be shattering. (5/8)
In other national health care news —
Modern Healthcare:
CMS Provides Lifeline To Co-Ops, Pares Down Special Enrollment Events
The CMS unveiled an interim final rule late Friday that could help the Affordable Care Act's struggling co-op plans. The rule also responds to insurers' complaints that people are abusing special enrollments in the exchanges. The CMS tightened the use of special enrollments, specifically making the rules around moving to a new home more restrictive to avoid any gaming of the system. Co-ops also can seek outside funding from investors to build up their capital, something that was outlawed previously. The policies go into effect May 11, and the CMS will accept comments on the rule through July 5. (Herman and Dickson, 5/6)
The New York Times:
Black Americans See Gains In Life Expectancy
It is a bitter but basic fact in health research: Black Americans die at higher rates than whites from most causes, including AIDS, heart disease, cancer and homicide. But a recent trove of federal data offered some good news. The suicide rate for black men declined from 1999 to 2014, making them the only racial group to experience a drop. Infant mortality is down by more than a fifth among blacks since the late 1990s, double the decline for whites. Births to teenage mothers, which tend to have higher infant mortality rates, have dropped by 64 percent among blacks since 1995, faster than for whites. (Tavernise, 5/8)
Politico:
Confessions Of An Ex-Regulator: Farzad Mostashari On How Government Should Work
Farzad Mostashari spent two years leading the White House effort to implement electronic health records. Now that he's running his own company — on the other side of those federal regulations — Mostashari sees numerous problems with how government rulemaking works, he told POLITICO this week. "Regulators really, really, really want to get it right," Mostashari said on POLITICO's "Pulse
Check" podcast, but they end up being too cautious and conciliatory. And that's bad for health care, he argues, because it protects underperformers and lets them stick around. (Diamond, 5/6)
NPR:
Professional 'Guinea Pigs' Can Make A Living Testing Drugs
There are lots of ways to make a buck, but becoming a human guinea pig for drug research has to be one of the oddest. "We are selling our bodies, most definitely," says Paul Clough, who has taken part in more than 80 drug tests in the past 11 years. "Well, renting," might be more accurate, he concedes. Clough, who's 37, also runs a website that helps people find trials to sign up for. Some are like the one he's doing right now, which stretches over three months and involves multiple stints living in a clinic with other volunteers, eating cafeteria food and showing up on time to get his vitals checked or to pop another pill. (Bichell, 5/8)