The FEHBlog has been contemplating the Centers for Disease Control’s aggressive approach to the vaping crisis. It occurs to him that if the CDC had taken such an approach with the opioid crisis, that crisis may bave been more manageable. See, for example, the Wall Street Journal’s most recent article on Purdue Pharma,  Better to live and learn when it comes to public health.

As we approach the time when OPM announces the 2020 government contribution, the Mercer actuarial consulting firm disclosed that

Health benefit costs will grow by nearly 4% in 2020, according to early results from the latest Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans. Based on responses from 1,511 US employers1, Mercer projects that the average total health benefits cost per employee will rise by 3.9% in 2020.

The Hill reports on the House leadership’s bill to lower drug costs now.  The plan hinges on government effectively setting the prices of 250 drugs annually.  The lower prices would be available to both government and private payers. Speaker Pelosi reported plans a vote this yea.

On the technology front —

• CAQH and HL7 have announced an agreement to collaborate in three important areas

1. Prior Authorization: Currently, the prior authorization process is a labor intensive, time consuming, and costly administrative burden for providers and payers. It also frustrates patients and, in some cases, delays care. HL7 and CAQH CORE will collaborate to move the industry towards end-to-end automation of the prior authorization process.
2. Exchange of Medical Documentation: According to the CAQH Index, 84 percent of attachments, or documents that prove medical necessity, are exchanged manually and often contain too much, too little, or the wrong type of information. This delays prior authorizations, hinders the transition to value-based payments, and costs plans and providers time and money. HL7 and CAQH CORE will work to align their respective efforts to support the electronic exchange of clinical information and medical documentation.
3. Value-Based Payments: The transition to value-based payment models has been slowed by a patchwork of administrative and technical approaches and work-arounds. HL7 and CAQH CORE will work together to address the interoperability challenges causing administrative burden for innovative payment models. 

Armed with the results of a telehealth program that greatly reduced hospital readmissions, a Detroit health system is now looking for payer partnerships to expand their reach.

Executives at the Henry Ford Health System say their e-Home Care service, which provides mHealth and telemedicine technology for the Henry Ford at Home program, reduced rehospitalizations by some 45 percent during the first half of 2019, as compared to the same time period in 2018, with a monthly readmission rate dropping to as low as 7 percent.