The FEHBlog was happy to read about the discussion draft of bipartisan healthcare reform bill released today by the chair, Sen. Lamar Alexander, and ranking minority member, Sen. Patty Murray, of the Senate Health, Education, and Pensions Committee. Kaiser Health News reports that the bill picks up two of the FEHBlog favorite cost saving approaches:
The novel [“surprise bill”] part from Alexander and Murray is the idea of an “in-network guarantee.” It requires that any hospital considered “in-network” for a health plan must promise that everyone working there is also in-network. This would avoid situations in which patients choose a hospital because they know their insurance company will cover the bill, only to find out that one of the doctors they saw was out-of-network, leaving the patient with a hefty bill. It also requires that labs and diagnostic tests be in-network, cutting off another avenue of surprise bills, [and]
Instead of regulating drug prices, the package would address patent protections, making it easier for generics to get to market and harder for brand-name drugs to maintain exclusive patents for lengthy periods.
The Senate HELP committee is requesting comments on the discussion draft. Comments must be submitted to LowerHealthCareCosts@help.senate.gov by 5 PM on Wednesday, June 5, to be considered.
Speaking of surprise bills, Health Payer Intelligence reports on a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on surprise billing held earlier this week.
The Centers for Disease Control issued a report yesterday on Trends in Cancer and Heart Disease Death Rates Among Adults Aged 45–64, 1999–2017.” Here are the top line results:
Cancer death rates for middle-aged adults aged 45–64 declined by 19% from 1999 to 2017 (224.9 deaths per 100,000 to 182.6), whereas heart disease death rates declined by 22% from 1999 (164.3) to 2011 (127.9) and then increased 4% from 2011 to 2017 (133.6). The same trend patterns were observed for both men and women. The cancer death rate was always higher than the heart disease death rate from 1999 to 2017, and was 37% higher in 2017.
The Health and Human Services Department’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced another settlement of HIPAA privacy and security rule violation allegation today.
On July 23, 2015, [Medical Informatics Engineering (MIE), an Indiana based HIPAA business associate] filed a breach report with OCR following discovery that hackers used a compromised user ID and password to access the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of approximately 3.5 million people. OCR’s investigation revealed that MIE did not conduct a comprehensive risk analysis prior to the breach. The HIPAA Rules require entities to perform an accurate and thorough assessment of the potential risks and vulnerabilities to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of an entity’s electronic protected health information.
“Entities entrusted with medical records must be on guard against hackers,” said OCR Director Roger Severino. “The failure to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities to ePHI opens the door to breaches and violates HIPAA.”