Obama Administration Set To Pick Coverage For Customers Who Lose Plans On Marketplaces
Some consumer advocates say the government assistance on choosing coverage will benefit people whose plans have exited the health law's exchanges, but insurers worry that it could create confusion.
The Associated Press:
Government To Pick Plans For Displaced Health Law Customers
The Obama administration is worried that insurers bailing out of the health care law's markets may prompt their customers to drop out, too.So administration officials have come up with a strategy to steer affected consumers to plans from remaining insurance companies. (10/6)
In other national health care news —
The Wall Street Journal:
Lawmakers Accuse Mylan Of Overcharging Government For EpiPen
The federal government says that Mylan NV has overcharged the federal-state Medicaid program by millions of dollars over five years for its emergency auto-injector product called the EpiPen. In a letter Wednesday, Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said Mylan wrongly classified the emergency epinephrine product as a generic, when it should have been classified as a brand-name product. In doing so, Mr. Slavitt wrote, Mylan paid a smaller rebate of 13%, or about $163 million, when it should have been paying a rebate of 23.1% or more. (Burton, 10/5)
Modern Healthcare:
Hospitals Tell CMS To Slow Flood Of New Alternative Payment Models
Providers are pleading with the CMS to slow its flood of new payment models in the effort to move from fee-for-service to value-based care. Since the start of the year, the agency has introduced or expanded nine pay models and announced selected markets for another three. In comments on a July proposed rule that would make 98 markets financially accountable for the cost and quality of all care associated with bypass surgery and heart attacks, industry stakeholders ask the agency to step on the brakes. (Dickson, 10/5)
The New York Times:
How Much Is It Worth To Hold Your Newborn? $40, Apparently
After holding his newborn son for the first time at a Utah hospital last month, a man found a strange charge on his bill: $39.35.The man, Ryan Grassley, thought the charge, which appeared to be for holding his baby to his wife’s chest, was a bit of a joke. (The charge was listed as “skin to skin after C-sec.”) So he didn’t take it too seriously when he posted a picture of the bill on Reddit. ... The Reddit post touched a nerve with people because it seemed to underscore a national frustration with unexpected hospital fees and arcane medical billing. (Bromwich, 10/5)