University of Great Falls Pivots to Health Care Inside Higher Ed The University of Great Falls in Montana is shifting to emphasize training for the health-care field and will be renamed the University of Providence at the beginning of July, following an investment by the multistate Providence St. Joseph Health system. |
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University of Great Falls Pivots to Health Care - Inside Higher Ed
As Attorney General Jeff Sessions testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday fanned the flames of the Russia scandal that hangs over Donald Trumps presidency, the White House appeared eager to change the subject to health care.
And that appears to be just fine with Democrats amid a messaging war over the Republicans crafting of a replacement for the 2010 health care law that Trump claims will be far better than the Obama-era system.
Sessions tussled with Democrats on the Intelligence panel Tuesdayduring dramatic testimony as Trump was en route to Wisconsin aboard Air Force One. The attorney generaldeclined to answer questions about conversations with Trump, citing the potential that the White House could assert executive privilege which has not yet happened.
And he denied meeting with the Russian ambassador to the United States following a foreign policy speech last April by then-candidate Trump at Washingtons Mayflower Hotel. Sessions defiantly pushed back on notions that his attending the same event as the ambassador, Sergey Kislyak, would constituteproof of collusion.
The attorney generalclashed with Sen. Ron Wyden over the Oregon Democrats contention that hewas stonewalling the panel. Sessions hit back, accusing Wyden and others of besmirching him with secret innuendo. As the dramatic scenes played out on Capitol Hill, Air Force One was touching down in Milwaukee.
The president first met with what the White House often calls Obamacare victims, then appeared with some to tell their tales of being slighted by the 2010 health care law. The president, sounding energized to be talking about health care again in a state he won in November, said American citizens deserve so much better.
[Sessions: Suggestions of Collusion a Detestable Lie]
He then pivoted to bashing congressional Democrats, telling an audience at General Mitchell International Airport that the Democrats have let you down big league. As he did earlier Tuesdayin the White Houses Cabinet Room during a health care meeting with 15 Senate Republicans, Trump said the GOP push for a new law will get no obstructionist Democratic votes.
Trump and his top aides are ramping up their health care messaging as Senate Republicans accelerate their work, aiming to vote before a July 4 recess. But Republicansare finding an opposition party that appears up for a messaging fight.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumertook aim at Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellon Tuesday.
He noted his relationship with McConnell since he became the Democratic leader is going fine, but he blasted the Kentucky Republicanfor legislative malpractice worse than he has seen during his 18-year Senate career by any leader. He was especially harsh on Pence, who huddled with the Senate GOP caucus on Tuesday after the White House meeting.
Schumer noted that Pence, during the 2009 health care debate when he was a member of the House GOP leadership team, urged Democrats that the American people deserved time to read the legislation, and that every member of Congress should commit to reading such a consequential bill.
Today, no member of Congress can read the [GOP] bill because we dont know what it is, Schumer said, adding that Democrats had 160 hours of floor debate and adopted more than 150 GOP-crafted amendments.
Thats what the process should look like, he said. It should be open, it should be fair, and not happen behind closed doors. The Republicans are so ashamed of this bill, they cannot even let a little sunshine light it up. Theyre ashamed of the bill.
Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., said the focus should be on the GOPs health care legislation.
My advice today: focus 10% of your attention/outrage on Sessions testimony, 90% on the secret health care bill that is speeding to a vote, he tweeted.
Hours earlier, House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters that based on conversations he has had with senators, the possibility of that chamber passing a health care bill before the July 4 recess is very, very small.
Schumer and Hoyers comments come as Democratic campaign entities are hammering Republicans with what is largely a one-issue attack: health care.
Trump would like the Senate to reach a consensus sooner rather than later. But at the start of his lunch meeting on the subject with the GOP senators, the president seemed more patient than normal he did not give the senators a hard deadline to finish a version that would have to be reconciled with a House-passed version before reaching Trumps desk.
As glasses of iced tea with large lemon wedges affixed to the rims sat mostly untouched before the midday meal was served, Trump told reporters he merely wanted the GOP senators to finish their version of the legislation as soon as we can.
The often-demanding president praised Republican senators for working very, very hard. Without getting into specifics, Trump predicted the Senate will pass a phenomenal bill that will feature a great health care plan that will be far better than the Obama-era law.
Meanwhile, as the Capitol prepared for Sessions testimony about Russia and former FBI Director James B. Comeys firing, White House aides were eager to to cast Tuesday as just another day in the West Wing.
Aides were seen carrying lunches back to their desks or notebooks to their next meeting. Workers moved boxes of sodas around, and a crew loaded furniture into a white box truck through the same door used by Trump to welcome world leaders to the White House.
A black squirrel paused around 1 p.m. after dropping something on a driveway, scooped it up, and sprinted toward a tree on the edge of the North Lawn.
A reporter climbed a small ladder and watched what appeared to be some of the Republican senators leaving after the lunch meeting via a side door on West Executive Drive. As they did, Marine One roared into sight and landed on the South Lawn near the Oval Office to ferry Trump to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for his flight to Wisconsin.
In many ways, it was like any other day at the executive mansion. Only, for the second time in five days, it was anything but. Not only did the day feature more high-profile testimony related to the Russia matter, it came as the White House refused to deny that the president is considering firing special counsel Robert Mueller, whos now leading the FBIs Russia probe.
White House aides also pressed forward with what is being called workforce development week at the executive mansion.
As part of this theme, Trumpleft Washington just before Sessions began to testify on a trip that served several purposes not just to talk about health care but workforce issues.
[Will GOP Settle for a Clean Debt Limit Win?]
So Trump not only talked health care in Wisconsin. He toured a community college and held a roundtable on workforce development. He also participated in a fundraiser for Wisconsins Republicangovernor, Scott Walker.
But even as the White House was eager to cast Trump as a getting-things-done president, the Russia matter just wouldnt go away back in Washington.
His attorney general aggressively denied any involvement in any possible collusion with Russian officials as they interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
I was your colleague in this body for 20 years, at least some of you, and the suggestion that I participated in any collusion, that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country, which I have served with honor for 35 years, a clearly angry Sessions sharply told his colleagues, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie.
But even amid that passionate denial, Democrats appear eager for a fight.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions testimony left far too many questions unanswered, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joseph Crowleysaid. It is abundantly clear there was inappropriate contact between President Trumps campaign and the Russians that must be investigated and explained in detail to the American people.
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Rising health care costs are projected to be the most burdensome expenses in retirement, but minimal behavioral change can significantly lower the price tag. These conclusions are from HealthView Services 2017 Retirement Health Care Costs Data Report, which draws from 70 million health care cases as well as actuarial, government and economic data.
According to a HealthView case study cited in the report, a 50-year-old with Type II diabetes who follows doctors orders can potentially add eight additional years to life expectancy and save an average of $5,000 annually in out-of-pocket costs before retirement. The firm notes that if the same individual invests that sum into a fund that earns a 6% return, that person would have more than $120,000 by age 65 or an extra $14,000 per year (assuming the person lives to the actuarial projected age of 80). With another $2,750 per year in health care savings in retirement, this individual would have generated almost $17,000 more in annual retirement income.
These findings emphasize the importance of communicating effective benefits packages in order for employees to make the most out of the offerings most beneficial to them. Adding a health component to financial wellness programs or adopting programs that incentivize healthy behavior may help as well.
But participants who dont address their health issues through behavior modification could be looking at a very expensive retirement, as could employers enduring higher health care costs.
According to HealthView, retirement health care cost inflation is expected to increase at an annual rate of 5.47% for the next decade. This translates to triple the rate of inflation between 2012 and 2016, and more than double the projected Social Security cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs).
The study indicates that a healthy 65-year old couple retiring today is expected to need $321,994 to cover total health care costs in retirement, when factoring in projected expenses for Medicare Part B and D premiums, as well as supplemental and dental insurance. When accounting for deductibles, copays, hearing, vision, and cost sharing, that number jumps to $404,253 in todays dollars or $607,662 in future dollars.
Medicare Part B premiums alone jumped by 16% in 2016. So far in 2017, they have increased by 10% despite a 24% decrease predicted by the Medicare Board of Trustees.
HealthView Services reports that the main driver behind these rising expenses is the increase in retirement health care inflation.
The report notes that Through a short-term lens, the average 65-year-old couple that retires in 2017 will pay $11,369 in their first year for health care$670 more than the same couple retiring in 2016. By age 85, those 2017 retirees will spend $39,208 (or $1,915 more for the same coverage than last years retirees).
Women in particular may face a larger burden due to increased life expectancy. HealthView finds that women live on average two years longer than men. The firm projects that expected health care costs for a healthy 63-year-old woman retiring this year (living to age 89) would need $362,607 in future dollars or 29.9% more than a 65-year-old male.
But regardless of age or gender, the firm finds that minimal behavioral change can reduce health care expenses and boost savings as well as longevity.
Although these numbers may seem out of reach, the savings required to cover health care when meeting retirement savings goals are often more modest than might be expected, says HealthView President and CEO Ron Mastrogiovanni. A 55-year-old can increase 401(k) contributions by as little as $17 per paycheck to address their retirement health care premiums, assuming a company match of 50% and they are meeting an 85% incomer replacement ratio savings goal.
The full 2017 Retirement Health Care Costs Data Report can be found at HVSFinancial.com
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Reducing Health Care Costs Through Behavioral Modification - PLANSPONSOR
JUDY WOODRUFF: This is an important week for the fate of a bill designed to replace and potentially overhaul the health care law often referred to as Obamacare.
Republican senators are trying to finish drafting key portions of their own bill affecting coverage and costs. But Democrats say the entire battle over repealing the law is quite different from standard operating procedure, and not nearly transparent enough.
Lisa Desjardins looks at how its playing out in the Senate.
LISA DESJARDINS: Right now the debate over health care is red hot in Congress, but only behind closed doors, as Republicans privately try to craft a Senate bill.
And that is something Democrats, like Senator Claire McCaskill last week, have been raising publicly.
SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL, D-Mo.: We have no idea whats being proposed. Theres a group of guys in a backroom somewhere that are making these decisions. There were no hearings in the House. I mean, listen, this is hard to take, because I know we made mistakes on the Affordable Health Care Act, Mr. Secretary.
And one of the criticisms we got over and over again, that the vote was partisan. Well, you couldnt have a more partisan exercise than what youre engaged in right now. Were not even going to have a hearing on a bill that impacts one-sixth of our economy.
LISA DESJARDINS: McCaskill wants something called regular order. What is that? Well, it used to be the normal process. A bill goes through committee hearings, where experts and those affected by an issue ring in.
Then senators on the committee can vote to change the bill with amendments. And then, when a bill gets to the Senate floor, regular order means another chance to change it with amendment votes there too.
In 2009, with the Affordable Care Act, two Senate committees held three months of hearings and went through weeks of voting on amendments.
More recently, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell said he wanted regular order when Republicans took over in 2015.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, Majority Leader: We need to open up, open up the legislative process in a way that allows more amendments from both sides.
LISA DESJARDINS: But thats not how Republicans so far have planned this health care debate. Again, in regular order, bills go through committees and amendment votes. Instead, this time around, Senate Republicans have indicated they may send their health care bill straight to the Senate floor with little, maybe no chance to amend it. And they have held no hearings on the bill so far.
Leading this process is Republican Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH, R-Utah: Well, I dont know that theres going to be another hearing, but we have invited you to participate.
LISA DESJARDINS: Who stressed to McCaskill that he wants Democratic ideas, if not more hearings and votes. But that differs from Hatch in 2009, when Republicans were the minority, and he thought Democrats were moving too fast on health care.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH: We at least ought to take the time to do this right.
LISA DESJARDINS: In the end, it took Democrats 14 months to pass their health care bill in 2009 and 2010. Thats why this moment is critical. The Senate will make or break health care reform. And Senate leaders, including Hatch, have said they want to pass a full health care bill by the end of this month. Thats just nine or 10 legislative days away.
For the PBS NewsHour, Im Lisa Desjardins.
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Several Republican senators have indicated that they would be willing to support a health care bill that funds Planned Parenthood or some abortion services, Fox News has learned.
The GOP is worried that any bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare would have to be carefully structured to hold the support of moderate and conservative Republicans. However, the apparent concession by conservatives might give leadership more room to maneuver.
The pressure is on Senate Republicans to try to move a bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare before the Fourth of July recess. The House of Representatives passed its own bill, the American Health Care Act, last month.
Fox News has also learned that Senate GOP leaders have been sending policy proposals to the Congressional Budget Office for evaluation and scoring. However, a full bill was not expected to be presented at the weekly Republican luncheon Tuesday.
Senate Republicans are winnowing down policy options in an effort to get the necessary 51 votes to pass any health care legislation. Some believe any bill will only get 50 votes, necessitating a tie-breaking intervention by Vice President Mike Pence.
Meanwhile, the government said Monday thatabout 16 percent of consumers who signed up for coverage this year through Healthcare.gov and its state counterparts had canceled their plans by early spring.
Figures released from the Health and Human Services department show that 10.3 million people were signed up and paying their premiums as of March 15. That's 1.9 million fewer than the 12.2 million who initially signed up during open enrollment season, which ended Jan. 31.
In the first part of last year, the dropout rate was similar, about 13 percent. It increased as the year went on. Monthly enrollment averaged about 10 million people in 2016.
Some of the main reasons for dropping out include finding job-based insurance, problems paying premiums, and becoming eligible for Medicare.
A new analysis from HHS also found higher dropout rates in areas where insurers have left the program. About one-third of U.S. counties only had one participating insurer this year, and next year there may be areas with no available carrier.
The Trump administration said the numbers are a sign of continuing problems with Obamacare, such as sharp premium increases and the departure of some major insurers that suffered financial losses.Democrats have accused Trump of trying to "sabotage" Obama's signature domestic achievement
Fox News' Chad Pergram and Mike Emanuel contributed to this report. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
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GOP senators may be willing to back health bill that funds Planned Parenthood - Fox News
A majority of likely voters in Georgias sixth congressional district hold an unfavorable impression of the Republican plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, according to a new poll by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
While 62 percent hold an unfavorable impression of the legislation, 25 percent have a favorable impression of the plan, the poll said. Thirteen percent did not know or did not provide an answer.
The results of the poll come with the district about a week away from going to the polls for the special election that has drawn both funds and attention throughout the country.
Republicans in the Senate have said a vote on the legislation could come in July.
Abt Associates conducted the poll from June 5 through June 8, surveying 1,000 registered voters. It has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel will face off on June 20 in the special election for the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
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Majority in Georgia 6th have unfavorable view of GOP healthcare bill: poll - The Hill
As Jeff Immelt (above), GEs outgoing chief executive, prepares to leave, he hands over a company with a health care division that is partnering with area hospitals.
General Electric Co. has been ramping up its activity in the states health care and life sciences sectors for several years. The rise of two health care-focused executives on GEs new leadership team could turbocharge its business in the booming fields.
Mondays announcement that the companys health care chief John Flannery was promoted to chief executive of GE, and the promotion of life sciences boss Kieran Murphy to head its health care operation, was cheered by those involved in Massachusetts medical, life sciences, and technology businesses.
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Industry leaders said it would likely hasten GEs move to integrate health data with its medical devices and more important to local entrepreneurs boost the companys support of medical technology and health data startups.
This is a signal that theyre very serious about enhancing their medical technology business, said Tom Sommer, president of the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council, known as MassMEDIC, a business group representing more than 300 companies. GE will now have a front-row seat in scouting the next generation of medical technology companies.
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Even before Mondays announcement, MassMEDIC had scheduled a networking reception next week to showcase efforts by GE Ventures, the companys venture-capital arm, to finance startups. The event is expected to draw hardware and software entrepreneurs involved in the digitization of medical gear, where GE and other companies add features to traditional medical imaging and diagnostic equipment to store, analyze, and transport patient data.
The market is changing so much, said Maria Shepherd, president of Medi-Vantage LLC, a medical technology consulting and strategy firm in Lincoln. Its all about improving clinical outcomes and reducing costs. Having [GE] here in Boston makes them local, so theyll get to know the local entrepreneurs.
But industry veteran Jonathan Fleming, chief executive of Cambridge drug developer Q-State Biosciences Inc., sounded a note of caution. GEs health care business faces many obstacles, he said, including moves by health insurers to reduce payments for overused imaging tests.
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GE is going to be continually challenged in growing its health care business, Fleming warned.
Flannery, who is set to assume the top job at GE in August, has led GE Healthcare since 2014. Its a sprawling business with about 55,000 employees and $18 billion in annual revenue. The division sells critical equipment and technology used by hospitals around the world including MRI and ultrasound machines, ventilators, patient monitors, blood pressure cuffs, and incubators for newborns. It also makes equipment for research labs.
Christopher Anderson, president of the Mass High Technology Council, said Flannery has all of the global experience and is totally focused on innovative tech.
Hell be able to fit right into a number of other successful tech [companies] who have their headquarters in Massachusetts and fit into the global market, he said.
GE has prioritized recruiting in the region, targeting software developers and other digital talent as it seeks to modernize its traditional heavy-machinery businesses with new software and technology, a transformation to what it calls the Industrial Internet.
The corporation has also become an investor in the Boston areas startup scene. GE Ventures owns parts of companies including Catalant, Desktop Metal, Tamr, and Rethink Robotics.
Jeff Bussgang, a general partner at Boston-based venture capital firm Flybridge Capital Partners, said Flannerys background could be a particular asset given Boston is a center of medical and biotech research.
I assume he is equally committed to Boston and the fact that hes a health care executive, which is in our regions wheelhouse, strikes me as a very good thing, Bussgang said.
The company has been pushing to expand in health care technology, in part by teaming up with Boston-based hospitals to develop new software programs. Last month, GE and Partners HealthCare the parent company of Massachusetts General and Brigham and Womens hospitals launched a 10-year initiative on artificial intelligence.
GE and Partners plan to build software targeting several aspects of medical care, starting with programs that can help doctors read medical images more accurately. They want to develop an open platform that can house hundreds of different applications. Flannery told reporters in May that he considers data and analytics and machine learning the future of health care.
The company is also developing software with experts at Boston Childrens Hospital.
Though GEs health care business is headquartered in Chicago, Flannery is a familiar name in Bostons medical and tech industries.
John has been highly engaged in getting to know the Boston health care community and the opportunities and challenges that exist within the industry, Brigham and Womens president Dr. Betsy Nabel said in a statement.
Childrens Hospital chief executive Sandra Fenwick said Flannerys background in digital health and life sciences will serve him well.
Our collaboration with GE Healthcare, established under John Flannerys leadership, continues to make progress, Fenwick said in a statement. His elevation to CEO should keep our work moving forward.
GEs decision last year to move its headquarters to Boston, plus the promotion of its top health care executive, means the company likely wants to stay focused on health care, said Jonathan P. Gertler, a life sciences industry consultant.
I cant imagine theyve appointed the person who ran GE Healthcare to the top position in order to take their eye off health care, said Gertler, chief executive of Back Bay Life Science Advisors.
Massachusetts has welcomed the growth of GEs presence in health care here. A year ago, Governor Charlie Baker and other state officials joined Murphy, then president of the GE Healthcare Life Sciences business unit, for the opening of a new $27 million, 210,000-square-foot site in Marlborough as North American headquarters for the life sciences business.
That part of the company markets products such as bioreactors used for drug manufacturing and contrast agents for medical imaging, and is the fastest-growing part of the GE Healthcare division, which Murphy will now head. It is leading the companys push into precision medicine, enabling the small-scale production of personalized treatments for genetic diseases.
Like Flannery, Murphy is already well known to many locally. Some say the pair, with Flannerys background in finance and Murphys in science, has complementary skill sets.
These are people with vision, said Lexington health care consultant Harry Glorikian, a former entrepreneur in residence at GE Ventures who knows both executives. Both of them have a positive disposition toward looking at new ideas and supporting them. This bodes well for the health care and life sciences side of the business. And I think theyre going to take a major role in Massachusetts.
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Senator Dan Sullivan speaks to public in Afognak building on Near Island, Kodiak. Kayla Desroches/KMXT
Republican Senator Dan Sullivan held a town hall in the city of Kodiak Saturday and attracted a sizable crowd. He dedicated the bulk of the meeting to the publics questions, and most focused on healthcare.
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One commenter, Mike Milligan, said the United States has a health care system based on money.
He connected his statement to Sullivans support of putting outside funds into political campaigns.
Other people have a healthcare system based on health and you have been a consistent supporter of [the] Citizens United [Supreme Court] decision, which keeps money in politics, Milligan said. How can you address this money associated with healthcare delivery when youre such an ardent supporter of Citizens United?
In response, Sullivan told a story about a woman who approached him and his family at dinner. The person said she and her husband were paying $3,000 dollars a month under the affordable care act with a $10,000 dollar deductible.
Come on, thats $33,000 dollars before you get any coverage, Sullivan said. Thats completely unaffordable. So, its complex, its very personal, as you mention Mike. I get it. And thats why weve been trying to meet with everybody.
Sullivan said theyre working towards reform for the state.
Scattered among the many comments on health care were several about protecting fisheries resources.
Gina Friccero referred to an incident in 2014 where a massive flow of mining waste in Canada escaped into lakes that served as spawning grounds for sockeye salmon.
The residents of the great state of Alaska have made it clear across party lines that we do not want to put the salmon habitat at risk, Friccero said. After the failure of Mount Polley mine, it is obvious that there is no viable way to protect our watershed from the pollution caused by mining. We ask that you make us a priority and stand against mining in any area that threatens the ecology of salmon habitat.
Sullivan said he believes in responsible resource development and transparency. He discussed the ongoing issue of Pebble Mine in the Bristol Bay watershed. The Environmental Protection Agency recently settled a lawsuit with the Pebble Limited Partnership that allows the company to apply for a federal permit for a mine in the area.
If that mine ever goes to permitting, which its not at permitting at all yet state, federal permitting it has to meet the highest standards, Sullivan said. And we shouldnt trade one resource for another. We already know we have great resources, as you mentioned, in Bristol Bay.
He said the permitting process should be fair.
At the town hall, Sullivan also spoke about some of the bills hes started or contributed to, including one to bolster missile defense and another to encourage new entrants into the fishing industry and provide training for young fishermen.
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Healthcare questions dominate Sen. Dan Sullivan town hall - Alaska Public Radio Network
Continuing a dropout trend seen in the Obama years, about 16 percent of consumers who signed up for coverage this year through public health insurance markets had canceled their plans by early spring, the government said Monday.
Figures released from the Health and Human Services department show that 10.3 million people were signed up and paying their premiums as of March 15. That's 1.9 million fewer than the 12.2 million who initially signed up during open enrollment season, which ended Jan. 31.
Created by Obama's Affordable Care Act, HealthCare.gov and its state counterparts offer subsidized private health insurance to people who don't have coverage through their jobs. The latest numbers seem to reflect the usual ups and downs of the program, more than the heated political debate over its future.
The Trump administration said the numbers are a sign of continuing problems with "Obamacare," such as sharp premium increases and the departure of some major insurers that suffered financial losses. President Donald Trump has declared the program "dead," and he's trying to replace it with a Republican plan that's currently even less popular in public opinion polls.
Meanwhile, Democrats are accusing Trump of trying to "sabotage" Obama's main domestic achievement, which has been credited with reducing the U.S. uninsured rate to a historic low of about 9 percent. With Republicans in full control of government, this year could bring the unwinding of Obama's law.
But independent analysts say the new numbers are no big surprise.
"The dropout rate is very similar to last year, with some people failing to pay their premiums or finding alternative coverage after signing up during open enrollment," said Larry Levitt of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "What's new here is a new administration spinning numbers in a very different way from the last one."
In previous years many people who initially signed up also wound up dropping out, for a variety of reasons.
In the first part of last year, the dropout rate was similar, about 13 percent. It increased as the year went on. Monthly enrollment averaged about 10 million people in 2016.
Some of the main reasons for dropping out include finding job-based insurance, problems paying premiums, and becoming eligible for Medicare.
A new analysis from HHS also found higher dropout rates in areas where insurers have left the program. About one-third of U.S. counties only had one participating insurer this year, and next year there may be areas with no available carrier.
The dropout rate was a sore spot for the Obama administration, which updated the numbers only a few times a year. The Trump administration says it will provide more frequent updates.
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HealthCare.gov dropout trend continues under Trump - ABC News
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What does the U.S. and the U.K. have in common when it comes to healthcare? Their healthcare sector continues to be under siege, and renewed efforts need to be made to lift the level of focus on protecting patient information. It is as if a Sword of Damocles hangs over this sector.
As asinine as it sounds, we may have finally reached the tipping point where patients are now accepting, by default, their information will be at risk when they accept medical care?
Government entities, one in the U.S. and another in the U.K. recently issued reports on the state of affairs within the healthcare sector. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force issued itsfirst report to Congress, and the HHS Office of Inspector General (IG) submitted its semi-annual report to Congress. In the U.K., the Information Commissioners office (ICO) released its data protections and concerns report. The content demonstrates how the issues being faced on the IT side of the healthcare equation know no borders.
The HHS Task Force recognized how vulnerable the sector is with its observation: "Over the next few years, most machinery and technology involved in patient care will connect to the internet; however, a majority of this equipment was not originally intended to be internet accessible nor designed to resist cyber attacks."
The HHS Task Force recognizes that a cultural change is required if cybersecurity and patient privacy are to be kept from "digitally sourced harm"a fancy way of saying being affected by a breach.
Interestingly, the HHS IG report highlights as areas of concern enhancing safety and quality care, efficiency of operations, reducing fraud and improper payments, and improving "data integrity and information security." The HHS IG recognizes the bang that can be acquired via implementing big data analytics to the fraud equation as a means to detect and prevent improper payments. Similarly, the HHS IG identifies "penetration testing" as its area of focus.
While across the pond in the U.K., the ICO notes the 31.5 percent increase in the number of self-reported incidents of data mishandling in the healthcare sector. The report also identifies with specificity that care homes (known in the U.S. as assisted living or nursing homes) continually avoid responding to IOC's requests. The Register notes how data breaches within the health sector accounted for 43 percent of all data breaches in the UK.
What is not surprising is the amount of breaches across both the U.S. and U.K. that are caused by human error. Sharing patient information in press releases or presentations is a self-inflicted wound. Copying data in a clear-text state to a storage medium, again a self-inflicted wound. Throwingpatient files awayvia normal garbage disposal methods instead of destroying patient data, again a self-inflicted wound. The recent WannaCry crisis brought the U.K.'s health service to its knees was also a self-inflicted wound because they continued to use Window XP machines (an operating system that was end-of-life in April 2014). And of course, the "clicking" of links within emails that serve as the hook-setting event for some of the larger breaches, a lack of awareness by the insider.
Patients need to be asking, "How is my data being protected?" The U.K., interestingly enough, has provided via the ICO a means for an individual to check if their information is being handled correctly.
It's up to you. Are you prepared to trade your privacy for treatment? Hold your healthcare providers accountable for how they handle your information.
Christopher Burgess is an advocate for effective security strategies, be they at the office or home for you and your family. Christopher, served 30+ years within the Central Intelligence Agency. He co-authored the book Secrets Stolen, Fortunes Lost, Preventing Intellectual Property Theft and Economic Espionage in the 21st Century.
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Healthcare: Are you prepared to trade privacy for treatment? - CSO Online
AARP is targeting 11 GOP senators, including key centrists, to oppose the House-passed healthcare bill that would raise premiums for seniors.
The ad campaign expands a May effort that ran ads targeting five senators, calling for the House-passed American Health Care Act to be scrapped. The expansion comes at a pivotal time as Senate leadership hopes to vote on a healthcare bill by the end of July.
AARP is targeting Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Joni Ernest and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Dean Heller of Nevada, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.
The list includes some key centrists who will be critical to the GOP leadership's hopes of passing its own version of the American Health Care Act before Congress' August recess.
Heller and Flake are up for re-election in 2018. Heller, Portman and Capito are pushing leadership for a seven-year phaseout of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion.
AARP, the nation's biggest seniors lobby, has been opposed to the American Health Care Act for some time, angry over a proposed change to premiums for senior citizens in insurance plans on the individual market.
Obamacare allowed insurers to charge seniors three times the amount they charge a younger person. The American Health Care Act would increase that to five times.
"Our members and other Americans over age 50 are very worried about legislation that would raise their premiums through what is, in effect, an age tax," said AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond.
It is not clear what pieces of the legislation the Senate will keep, including the age-rating ratio.
AARP also derided problems with Medicaid and hurting "protections for people with pre-existing conditions."
A controversial last-minute amendment to the legislation, which passed the House last month by a 217-213 vote, let states opt out of community rating mandate. States could get a waiver that would let insurers charge sicker people more money.
House Republicans say that $23 billion included in the legislation for high-risk pools could help offset any increases. A recent estimate from the Congressional Budget Office said that money wasn't enough to offset major increases for people with pre-existing conditions such as cancer or diabetes.
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AARP targets more Republicans in new healthcare ad buy - Washington Examiner
This Might Be The Best Time To Break Into The Healthcare Business Forbes Last year I wrote about what entrepreneurship looks like in healthcare. It's an interesting topic because the two seem to have contradictory goals. How can you take the risks of an entrepreneur to an industry where the stakes are so high? But business ... |
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This Might Be The Best Time To Break Into The Healthcare Business - Forbes
NPR | Morning News Brief: Russia Protests, GOP Health Care Bill NPR Rachel Martin 2016 square · Rachel Martin · Facebook Twitter. For the second time this year, a leading Russian dissident is calling for mass demonstrations against President Putin's government. And, the U.S. Senate continues work on health care overhaul. |
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Morning News Brief: Russia Protests, GOP Health Care Bill - NPR
Despite the daily drip about Russia and the Trump administration, national Democrats who hope to exploit Republicans vulnerabilities in 2018 are focusing theirmessaging squarely on health care before theJuly 4 recess.
Just minutes after former FBIDirector James B. Comey concluded his testimony Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee in which he said the president lied to the America people the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee blasted out a release.
The subject? Nevada Sen. Dean Hellers reported support for phasing out Medicaid expansion.
The Senate Democrats campaign arm issued no public statements about the Comey hearing.
Democrats are careful to say that just because Russia isnt a major campaign issue todaydoesnt mean it couldnt be a year from now. The 2018 cycle is still young, as is the unraveling of detailsabout Russias involvement in last years election.
But for now, many Democratic strategists and lawmakers say, the ins and outs of Russias meddling in U.S. politics is not the most pressing issue for voters.
Literally, I have gotten zero questions about Russia. Zero, Rep. Cheri Bustos said Thursday as she was leaving the Capitol after the last votes of the week.
The Illinois Democrat was describingthe interactions she has had so far this year at her Supermarket Saturday events, where she swings through grocery stores to chat with constituents in the aisles.
One of three co-chairs of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, Bustos is the only Midwestern member in House Democratic leadership.Trump narrowly carriedher district last fall.
Things that Washington, D.C., is obsessed about, in some cases, are barely even a blip in a rural area like mine, shesaid.
Health care is the issue her constituents have raised the most, Bustossaid. People with pre-existing conditions are freaking out, she said.
The Democratic super PAC Priorities USA released a messaging guidance memolate last month with a similar conclusion. Nearly half of the presidential-year voters surveyed expressed concern about Republicans supporting the GOP health care bill; only 35 percent had concerns about Republicans opposing an independent investigation into the Kremlin and Trump.
Its not to say Russia is not relevant, its just not as pertinent to peoples lives, a longtime Democratic strategist said.
New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who conducted an internal review of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees 2016 election efforts, said he doesnt like to veer too far from the bread-and-butter issues that worry families in his district.
Its hard to compete with somebodys mortgage, or their retirement or the cost of their kids college, Maloney said as he exited the Capitol ahead of the weekend break.
We should not assume that ordinary Americans understand this and care about this as much as people in Washington, he said of Russia. Maloney said that while his constituents take the Russian election interference seriously, theyre also wary of Washington.
They are understandably suspicious about how politics can get played in this town. And they see that as being at odds with whats important at their own families kitchen tables, Maloney said.
A distraction is how Bustos characterizes the Washington frenzy over Russia.Part of her job as DPCC co-chairwoman is helping the party craft its message, especially in rural and swing areas of the country like hers.
I just say, This is distracting members of Congress from what we need to be focusing on, Bustos said, rattling off a list of other priorities such asa farm and infrastructure bill that she wants Congress to get done.
Maloney cautioned that its too soon to tell whether Russia will emerge as a more salient campaign issue. The facts may be so serious that they cannot be ignored, he said.
That uncertainty over whats going on with Russia is one reason some Democrats are finding it more helpful to talk abouthealth care.
Right now, the story is that something very troubling is happening in Washington, D.C. The middle and end of this story we just dont know yet, said a Democratic strategist who works on Senate campaigns.
The troubling aspects of the GOP health care plan, at least from the Democrats perspective, are much more clear-cut. And for a party largely ondefense in Senate races next year in states that Trump won (and where he remains popular), Democrats see health care as a strong offensive message, especially against their top two targets, Heller and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake.
Earlier this year, the DSCC released non-skippable YouTube ads attacking the GOP health care plan for hurting older Americans and those with pre-existing conditions. Majority Forward, a nonprofit allied with Senate Majority PAC, also made health care the subject of its ads in Arizona and Nevada released earlier this year.
But Russia continues to dominate the news cycle.
At some level this is all a gift to Republicans because it takes focus off of this disastrous health care bill, Connecticut Sen. Christopher S. Murphy said Thursday.
So itll be up to Democratic groups to find ways to communicate their health care message to voters this summer.
Its important to let people know that as these investigations are going on, Trump and the Republicans are trying to pull the health care rug out from under the Americans, said Maryland Sen.Chris Van Hollen, the DSCC chairman.We need at least bifocals here.
The party can and should keep its eye on both things, said Jesse Ferguson, a veteran of the DCCC and Hillary Clintons campaign.
Its a false choice between talking about health care and talking about Russia, Ferguson said. In fact, he said, the two messages even amplify each other.
Democratic campaigns arent ignoring Russia completely, and with the liberal base motivated on the issue Indivisible and MoveOn.org both called for impeachment proceedings immediately after the Comey hearing they cant afford to.
The DCCC called on Republicans to support a bipartisan, independent committee to investigate Russias interference in our democracy after the Comey testimony. A smattering of Democratic House challengers released similar statements.
Russia is more salient in some districts than others. In its Thursday statement, the DCCCtook a shot at California GOP Rep. Devin Nunes, whose conduct in the Russian investigation has earned him a spot on the committees target list in 2018. Increased attention on Russia has also helped put the district of another California Republican, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,on the map.
American Bridge, a liberal super PAC, is the rare Democratic outside group that has invested in paid communications on Russiathis year.
But its also beenvocal about health care. Its partnering with House Majority PAC on its Congressional Accountability Projectthis summer.
Make no mistake, pocketbook issues like health care ought to be front and center in Democratic messaging, American Bridge President Jessica Mackler said in an emailed statement. But Democrats can also walk and chew gum at the same time.
The Trump administrations Russia scandal must be investigated and Republicans who refuse to do their job and demand an independent investigation should be held accountable. We can do both, Mackler added.
Democrats see the Russia developments taking a toll on the presidents popularity and boosting their party inthe generic congressional ballot (with a longtime Democratic strategist pointing to the nearly 8-point edge his party has in FiveThirtyEights generic ballot tracker as a good sign for 2018).
In the end, the Trump administration, and their contortions and their lying about what happened, is feeding the perception they cant be trusted, Ferguson said. That perception makes it impossible for them to sell their health care agenda to the American people, he added.
Bridget Bowman contributed to this report.
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Democrats Stick to Health Care Message Amid Russian Intrigue - Roll Call
Crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe and YouCaring have turned sympathy for Americans drowning inmedical expenses into a cottageindustry. NowRepublican efforts in Congress torepeal and replace Obamacarecould swellthe ranks of the uninsured and spurthe business ofhelping peopleraise donations online to pay for health care.
But medical crowdfunding doesn't have to wait for Congress to act. Business is already booming,and its leadersexpect therapid growth to continue no matter what happens on the Hill.
"Whether it's Obamacare or Trumpcare, the weight of health-care costs on consumers will only increase," said Dan Saper, chief executive officer of YouCaring. "It will drive more people to try and figure out how to pay health-care needs, and crowdfunding is in its early days as a way to help those people."
The GOPplan could hurt older and sicker Americans and those with preexisting conditions.Above, Speaker of the House Paul Ryanand House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Photographer: Tom Williams
At industry leaderGoFundMe, medical isone of the biggest fundraising categories.CEO Rob Solomon hassaid it'swhat "helped define andput GoFundMe on the mapand has called the company, founded in 2010,"a digital safety net."
Thatnetgrew wider this year withGoFundMe'sacquisition ofCrowdRise, which wasco-founded by the actor Edward Norton. Itadds to the company's business helping people fundraisefor charitiesandsends those who needfundsfor "medical bills, a friends tuition, a group volunteer trip, or any personal cause"to GoFundMe.
Growth hasbeen rapid.In a September2015LinkedIn post, Solomon wrote that the onemillion campaigns set up over the previous yearhad raised $1 billion from nearly 12 million donors. By February2016, the total was $2 billion. In October2016, it was$3 billion, from 25 million donors. A NerdWallet study of medical crowdfunding said GoFundMehad indicated that $930 million of the $2 billion raised intheperiod the study analyzed was from medical campaigns.
YouCaring,meanwhile, acquired GiveForwardthis year; medicalfundraisersmadeup 70 percent of GiveForward'scampaigns. The combined companies have8million donors who have contributed $800 million to a wide range of campaigns. A big part of that totalwas donatedto medical campaigns, according to the company.It wasapproaching 50 percent of all fundraisers at YouCaringbefore the acquisition,and thegrowth rate is setto triple this year,Sapersaid.
With enough volume, the business of helpingpeople raise moneyfor medical carehas a lot of profit potential. GoFundMetakes 5 percent of each donation, 2.9 percentgoes to payment processing, and there'sa 30transaction fee. Smaller sites, such asFundlyand FundRazr,chargemuch the same.YouCaringdonors pay just a 2.9 percent processing feeplus the 30.
"We rely on voluntary contributions from donors [to run the business], so our big thrust now ishow do we get the word out about it," said Saper. The company is scaling up its team and operationsandhiredthe former global head of engagement and growth of EventBrite, Maly Ly,asits chief marketing officer in March.
Indiegogo, which started outfunding filmmakers, createda separate platform in 2015 called Generosity. Medical is a top category, and users pay a 3 percent paymentprocessing fee and the 30.NowFacebook has jumped into thefray.On May 24, it began allowingusers to launch fundraisers for personal causes or nonprofits on their pages. Medical is one of eight available categories.For personal cause campaigns, Facebook takes6.9 percent of each donation plus 30.
For more and more Americans, vying in a popularity contest for a limited supply of funds and sympathy may be the only way to pay the doctors and stay afloat. House Republicans passed a bill last month to replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. As is, the Congressional Budget Office estimates, it would leave 23 million more Americans uninsured in 2026 than under the ACA. Even a law just resembling the bill is likely to raise the cost of health care for older and sicker Americans and for those with preexisting conditions, bolstering the medical crowdfunding business.
The industry still represents just a fraction of the hundreds ofbillions of dollarsAmericans pay annuallyout of pocket for health care, said Saper. Medical crowdfundingis "highly, highly scalableand has a ton of runway," he said. "The growth rate of the industry is showing that this can absolutely be an impactful safety net for a lot of individuals and communitiesto help each other."
Siblings Luke and Dana Nowakowski(above in Milwaukee in2015)started a campaign on GoFundMe to raise $25,000 to help their father pay for the care of their mother, who has dementia and mobility challenges.
Photographer: Darren Hauck/New York Times via Redux
The remarkably named Producing a Worthy Illness: Personal CrowdfundingAmidst Financial Crisis, astudy published this yearbythe University of Washington/Bothell,offers a striking perspective on some of those communities. Personal medical campaigns on GoFundMewere likelierto come from people living in states that chose not to expand Medicaid under the ACA, preliminary results of the study showed.Fifty-four percent of 200 randomly sampled campaigns last year came from those states, though theyare home to just 39 percent of the U.S. population.Trumpcarewould sharply curtail Obamacare's expansion of Medicaid.
"We had a huge number of campaigns from Texas, which is often recognized as thestate where it's most difficult to qualify for Medicaid and other public insurance," Professor Nora Kenworthy, co-author of the study, said. "A lot of the campaigns are really using GoFundMe as a safety net,"asking for "help with lost wages, help getting basic health-care services and support."
Mostmedical crowdfunding campaigns are a far cry from Taylor Swift's $50,000 gifton GoFundMe to a young girl with aggressive leukemia,or $1 million in donations for a mother whose cancer returned whenshe was pregnant with quadruplets."Often,funds people are raising are for a huge range of costs that go along with care, like travel to the place where you will get care, because insurance doesn't really cover that,"said Indiegogo'ssenior director of social innovation, BreannaDiGiammarino. In the future, more fundraisers will likely seektocover premiums and deductibles rather than the cost of care itself, she said.
"Crowdfunding is being treated a little like crowd-insurance now," said Daryl Hatton, CEO of Canada-based crowdfunding platformFundRazr.
Yet crowdfunding's business model is a poorfit for the gargantuan, mundane, never-endinghealth-care costs of many online campaigners. Some get just 10 to 20 percent of whattheyaskfor, said Jeremy Snyder, a health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada, where the need remains even with a national health-care system.Snyder'sresearch, whichincludesanalysis of ethicalissues raised by medical crowdfunding,has focusedon people seeking funding for cancer treatments on Canadian crowdfunding sites.
And, of course, in the U.S. as in Canada, somecampaigners get less than that, or nothing at all.Slightly more than onein 10 health-related online campaigns reached their goal in the NerdWalletreport. The Bothell studyfound that 90 percent of the 200 GoFundMe campaigns didn't reach their goal, and that, on average, fundraisers got 40 percent of what they asked for. That doesn't sound like much of a fixtoSnyder.
"Is this something that is going to be a solution to a lack of health insurance?" he said."Absolutely not."
One reason for the discouraging statistics is that while most of the campaigns are ordinaryand no less urgent for itit is often the extraordinary ones that do best.
The more dramatic the need, the more successful" the fundraiser,said Adrienne Gonzalez, who follows the industry asthe creator ofGoFraudMe.com, a site that exposes fraudulent campaignson GoFundMe.
Among the "most active" campaigns featured on generosity.com on May 30 were one to help pay for treatments for a man diagnosed with acute promyelocyticleukemiaand one fora womanstruggling to cover"co-pays, travel expenses, food, lodging, essentials" as she tends to her 19-year-old daughter, who is scheduled for akidney transplant.A third solicited fundsfor a woman without insurance who had been struck by lightning.
Those appeals are very different from that of anice hockey player who had broken her collarbone in a game and started a campaignongenerosity.com. Sheasked for $1,500 to help cover her $1,000 deductible and other costs, includingbeing sidelined from her landscaping job for at least six weeks. Over a month, she raised $252 from seven people, or 17 percent of her goal. It was something.
I need help with my deductiblethey are not going to be very successful, said Gonzalez, who believes crowdfunding has done a lot of good but presents"this whole socioeconomic problem"because "you almost have to be a marketing guru" to create a successful campaign.
The Bothellresearchers noticed a bias among donors toward funding solvable problems. "Injections that cost $10,000 every six months are a more solvable problem thana campaign for a family citing a litany of challenges, like utility bills that aren't being paid because the family is paying for health care," said Professor Lauren Berliner, Kenworthy's co-author on the study.Media and digital savvy play a big part in attracting donations.The campaigns withhashtags, images, and flashyelements got the most financial support, the study found.
"Most campaigns are paid for by friends, and friends of friends," said Hatton of FundRazr."A lot of it has to do with the strength of your social network," as people you helped now dip into a "karma bank" and help you. People with fewer financial resources may not have been able to build up that goodwilland may not have that wide and deep a social network to call on, he said.
Then there was thewoman in her 30swhowalked into afree clinic where Dr. Edward Weisbart, who chairs the Missouri chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program,volunteers. She was with her mother, appearedunable to speak,and hada "peculiar affect, like a crazed wild animal," he said. It turned out she had lived for years with seizures every two to three days until she founda medication that hadcut the frequency toonce every two months. When she visited Weisbart, she had lost her insuranceand had 10 days of medication left.
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"Her inarticulate state was not a consequenceof the seizures," Weisbart said. "It was terror over what her life would be like if she couldn't get the medication."Once he explainedthat the clinic could mail her the drugand that it would cost $40 instead of $1,500, "she transformed into this normal, lucid, almost friendly person," he said. "But she could never have usedcrowdfunding, because she was literally beside herself."
Hatton isseeing more"fatigue" around crowdfunding efforts. Weisbart observed that"when you get your first request, you probably give a high amount. But as you get besieged and realize how common these requests are, donations will go down. We can't keep on giving to everyone who asks."
Onesite keeping its distanceis Kickstarter, where donors fund creative projects.
"If we had personal health-care campaigns, it could create a strange moral equivalency," saidJustin Kazmark, the company's vice president of communications. "If you see documentary filmmakers trying to get $10,000 for a film alongside a project for someone whose dog needs dental surgery, or for disaster relief,it changes the mindsetand frames the whole thing differently."
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America's Health-Care Crisis Is a Gold Mine for Crowdfunding - Bloomberg
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Health care is high on the minds of voters in Georgias 6th congressional district, but most disapprove of the House GOPs current proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare.
More than 80 percent of the 745 likely voters surveyed last week in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll listed health care as an extremely important or very important issue for them as theyve determined whether to vote for Republican Karen Handel or Democrat Jon Ossoff in the upcoming special election.
The issue ranked high in the eyes of more voters than any other surveyed, including taxes, abortion and transportation. Government spending was second.
Specifically, the cost of health care was seen a top issue across every political party, race and age group polled: 94 percent of likely voters surveyed said they were extremely concerned or very concerned about the issue.
Sixth District voters held particularly negative opinions about theGOP proposal to overhaul Obamacare that narrowly passed the House last month. Only one in four of the likely voters surveyed, and one-half of Republicans, said they approved of the American Health Care Act. The disapproval rating is 7 percentage points higher than the national Kaiser Health Tracking Poll released late last month.
I find it to be way too invasive, said Charles Neal, a 65-year-old Handel supporter from Cobb County of the House health care bill. It puts peoples privacy in the hands of bureaucrats.
The totals show the challenges in store for Senate Republicans as they continue to hash out their own Obamacare replacement proposal behind closed doors. Not only must they sell such a plan to each other, but a skeptical public.
Obamacare makes sense for a lot of reasons, according to James Vaughn, a 52-year-old from DeKalb County who is backing Ossoff. I realize its not perfect, but repealing it and replacing it with this atrocity the GOP came up with is not right.
Somewhat surprisingly, the House GOP proposal polled highest among likely Georgia voters of retirement age: 29 percent of the folks surveyed who were 65 and older supported the bill. While that voting bloc tends to lean toward the right, the American Health Care Act has been slammed by senior advocacy groups such as the AARP since it would allow insurers to charge older people higher monthly premiums.
As for Handel and Ossoff, the two are split on the House GOP proposal along predictably partisan lines. Handel said shes committed to working toward a full repeal and replacement of Obamacare that works for all Americans, while Ossoff said the House plan puts Georgians lives at risk.
Marlene Weingart is a 62-year-old Handel supporter from Fulton County. She said she hopes Senate Republican leaders will be able to find enough support to pass the proposal.
Healthcare is not a right or the job of the government, she said. Obamacare should be repealed and they need to simplify the healthcare system.
The survey was conducted June 5-8 by ABT Associates and involved 1,000 registered voters. The margin of error is +/- 4 percentage points.
Check out the crosstabs here,and checkout the MyAJC politics sitefor more coverage.
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American families, businesses, and the economy will all be negatively impacted should the Trump Administration succeed in weakening the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandate that requires companies to provide free contraception to employees. Our perspective as investors leads us to strongly urge companies to continue to provide no-cost contraception in addition to comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare benefits to all employees.
As institutional investors, we see compelling evidence that widespread access to sexual and reproductive healthcare benefits, such as maternity care, paid parental leave, contraception, and family planning services promotes two positive and interrelated outcomes (1) it provides women greater control over their own lives and (2) it facilitates economic growth.
The economic argument is equally compelling. The additional productive power of women entering the workforce from 1970 (when birth control became more widely available) until today accounts for roughly one quarter of current GDP. Janet Yellen, Chair of the Federal Reserve, recently cited a PwC study that found increasing womens participation in the workforce to the same level as mens would increase the nations GDP by five percent. And women are projected to account for 51 percent of the growth in total labor force from 2008 to 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
This should not be a partisan debate. Our government should continue its tradition of establishing policies that will unlock these social and economic benefits. The Title X Family Planning Program, signed into law by President Nixon in 1970, has a long record of helping low-income and underserved individuals obtain high-quality family planning and related preventive healthcare while also providing economic benefit. In fact, the Title X Program has been shown to save taxpayers seven dollars for every dollar invested. The Guttmacher Institute, a sexual health research and policy organization, reports: In 2014, the contraceptive care delivered by Title Xfunded providers helped women avoid 904,000 unintended pregnancies, which would have resulted in 439,000 unplanned births and 326,000 abortions. Without the contraceptive care provided by these health centers, the U.S. rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion would have been 33 percent higher, and the teen pregnancy rate would have been 30 percent higher.
Roughly 49 percent of Americans receive health insurance through their employer. Fortunately, many companies see sexual and reproductive healthcare benefits as a no-brainer. Notably, Bank of America, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young now provide 16 weeks of paid parental leave, despite the U.S. being the only one of the OECDs 35 member nations not to require paid maternity leave. Proactive companies stand to attract and retain talent and have a healthier and more productive workforce.
The ACA includes contraceptive coverage, pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care among its 10 Essential Health Benefits. Before the ACA however, these benefits were rare. For example, 88 percent of private plans did not provide for maternity care.
Yellen succinctly summarized the imperative to eliminate obstacles to womens full participation in the economy in a speech given at Brown University: Further advancement [of women] has been hampered by barriers to equal opportunity and workplace rules and norms that fail to support a reasonable work life balance. If these obstacles persist, we will squander the potential of many of our citizens and incur a substantial loss to the productive capacity of our economy
Institutional investors have a vested interest in seeing our economy achieve its full potential. We believe it is essential that legislators and business leaders work to ensure common sense sexual and reproductive health care benefits and family planning services remain firmly embedded in public and corporate policy as it will unlock numerous benefits to companies and society.
Allan Pearce is a Shareholder Advocate at Trillium Asset Management, an employee-owned investment advisor devoted exclusively to sustainable and responsible investing.
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Keep ObamaCare's commonsense sexual health care benefits, investors say - The Hill (blog)
Too often, real policy improvements get drowned out by political talking points. That is the case right now as nearly all of the health care discussion in Montana is about one flawed health care bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
In the 2017 legislative session, we saw unprecedented bipartisan action to improve health care. Representative Rob Cook (R-Conrad) carried an important bill to allow my team at the State Auditors office to pursue a waiver from the federal government and create a reinsurance system that would have stabilized our insurance market and lowered costs. It passed the Montana House unanimously before politics got involved.
Representative Amanda Curtis (D-Butte) sponsored a great bill to require transparency in health care prices and let patients share in the savings by finding procedures for lower costs from different hospitals. Senator Ed Buttrey (R-Great Falls) carried another bill that would have empowered Montanans with the ability to know the cost of health care procedures.
Another bill, by Senator Cary Smith (R-Billings), would have allowed Montanans to contract directly with their doctors for services. Representative Nancy Balance (R-Hamilton) carried a bill to include Montana in a compact with other states to protect citizens control over health care decisions. Two more bills would have helped small businesses provide health insurance to their employees and allowed Montanans to shop out-of-state for affordable health insurance.
Tragically, Governor Bullock vetoed all six bills that landed on his desk. These bills would have made health care more accessible and affordable, but Bullock chose to obstruct the Legislature and hurt Montanans struggling to make ends meet.
Governor Bullocks refusal to allow Montana to improve its own system makes it all the more important that Congress repeal Obamacare, and do so responsibly. Ive told key congressional leaders that they need to fully fund cost-sharing reduction payments to stabilize the 2018 insurance market and that Obamacare repeal needs to lower costs, give states more flexibility, and give consumers more options to meet their individual health care needs.
Health insurance costs in the United States are on an unsustainable path. Ive heard from hundreds of Montanans who are paying thousands of dollars every year for their health insurance coverage, and thousands more for deductibles before their insurance provides any benefit. Ive spoken at length with Senator Steve Daines about these issues, and hes working hard to address these problems. Even Senator Jon Tester is now admitting that things are wrong with Obamacare and that we didnt make the modifications to fix the problem.
Im glad to see Senator Tester admits that when he cast the deciding vote to pass Obamacare, the law that no one had read was critically flawed from the outset. Im also glad to see hes admitting that he and the rest of the national Democrats did nothing to address these problems and that reforms are way overdue. But Senator Tester needs to do more than just speak, he needs to take action, especially after Governor Bullock thwarted bipartisan health care improvements here in Montana. We can work together to solve these problems and make health care better for all Montanans, but for that to happen, the political obstruction must end.
-- Matt Rosendale of Glendive is Montanas State Auditor, also known as Commissioner of Securities and Insurance.
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Health care improvements thwarted by politics - Montana Standard
Californias Democratic legislators want to extend health benefits to undocumented young adults, the continuation of an effort that ushered children without legal status into the states publicly funded health care system last year.
It is unclear when the program would start or how much the state would spend if the proposal, which could cost up to $85 million a year, is approved by Gov. Jerry Brown. Lawmakers are working out details ahead of their June 15 deadline for passing a new budget.
The plan would provide full-scope coverage for 19-to-26-year-olds who qualify for Medi-Cal, the states name for Medicaid. Currently, the federally funded program covers only emergency visits and prenatal care for undocumented residents. Under the proposal, revenue from taxes on tobacco products would absorb expenses for all other coverage.
Democratic Sen. Ricardo Lara of Bell Gardens has been one of the strongest voices for expanded care. In 2015, he pushed for coverage for all adults. That proposal was changed to admit only undocumented children; it took effect last year. This year, he said in a recent video message to supporters, We are going to make the final push to ensure we capture our young adults.
Supporters ultimate goal is to include all undocumented adults, said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a health care consumer group backing the proposal.
We believe without coverage people are sicker, die younger and are one emergency away from financial ruin. It has consequences for their families and their communitiesboth health and financial consequences, he said.
The plan would mean that undocumented children currently in the program would not age out at 19, putting low-income undocumented immigrants on a par with those allowed to stay on their parents insurance under Obamacare until they are 26.
Republican Sen. John Moorlach of Costa Mesa opposes an extension of benefits. One reason is financial. California doesnt have a balance sheet we can brag about, he said, citing the states debt load, among other reasons.
Secondly, he disapproves of illegal immigration. Moorlach migrated to the U.S. legally as a child with his family from the Netherlands.
Im kind of offended that we feel an obligation to pay for expenses for those who did not come through the front door, he said. I certainly have compassion and want to help people in need, but Im having difficulty, as a legal immigrant, because we are already in such bad fiscal shape.
Advocates argue that undocumented immigrants help propel Californias economy with their labor and the taxes they pay, and that they cost the state money when they dont work because of illness or when they end up in the emergency room.
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Health care is a right, said Ronald Coleman, director of government affairs for the California Immigrant Policy Center, an advocacy organization and supporter of the proposal. These are folks we are investing in through the California Dream Act and through other programs our state offers, and it makes sense to invest in our future, which our young adults will be.
Estimates vary for how many people this expansion of Medi-Cal would serve and what the costs would be. Each house of the Legislature has passed its own version of the proposal, with differing figures attached.
The Assembly allocated $54 million a year to cover an unspecified number of additional enrollees, with a July 2017 start date. The Senate proposed $63.1 million in the first year, beginning in 2018, and $85 million annually thereafter, also without specific population numbers.
Colemans center, which is working closely with lawmakers on the issue, estimates about 80,000 new people would be eligible, and the cost would be around $54 million a year. That assumes the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program continues, because it provides access to Medi-Cal. If DACA were eliminated, the figures would increase to about 100,000 eligible people and about $84 million in annual costs, Coleman said.
The governors proposed budget does not include the proposed expansion or any money for it.
Kevin, a 19-year-old Angeleno who asked that only his first name be used because he lives in California illegally, wants the proposal to succeed. He has been working for more than a year to distribute information about Medi-Cal childrens coverage to immigrant families.
He meets all but one of the requirements for DACA: He was not in the country before June 15, 2007. He arrived in the U.S. in 2011 at age 14 from Guatemala, on a visa that later expired. He graduated high school, has no criminal record and is now majoring in business administration at California State University, Los Angeles.
Theres this misunderstanding that young people are healthy, said Kevin, who suffers from eczema. He worries about the chronic condition flaring up. When it gets worse, it doesnt let me do anything with my hands.
He is enrolled in a county health insurance program for low-income residents, but he cant afford a dermatologist. He can barely pay for the prescription lotion he uses for the eczema and sometimes goes without it.
We are trying to have a better economic standard, and we are like the building blocks of this society, he said. Having health insurance will allow us to focus more on school and do our regular day-to-day activities. A healthier society works better for everyone.
If lawmakers can now agree on details, a consensus proposal will go to the full Legislature for approval. The deadline for that is June 12.
CALmatters.org is a non-profit journalism venture dedicated to exploring state policies and politics.
Excerpt from:
Democrats seek more health care for California's undocumented - LA Daily News
The discussions are still ongoing and a vote isn't likely for several weeks, but several details emerging from the consequential negotiations last week have the party's right flank on edge.
A month ago, there was a lot of optimism that the Senate process would go better for conservatives than the House process initially had. They were given a seat at the negotiating table, with leadership inviting both Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Ted Cruz of Texas to participate in the Senate's health care "working group." But with leaders seeking to assuage concerns from all sides of the GOP, conservatives are facing potential policy blows.
Republican leaders Tuesday indicated that they preferred not to repeal as many of the Obamacare-era regulations as the House bill did, including a key protection for people with pre-existing conditions that blocks insurers from charging people more for insurance based on their health history.
That could make it tougher for Republican Sens. Lee, Cruz and Kentucky's Rand Paul to vote for the bill after they've warned for months that Obamacare regulations have to go if premiums are going to come down.
Michael Cannon, the director of health policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said from what he can tell, senators are moving little more than "Obamacare with window dressing."
Heritage Action spokesman Dan Holler said of the status of negotiations, "It's a very complex issue, but certainly the way conversations played out publicly this week, there's concern among a lot of conservatives. If you look at Senate conservatives, they are still very involved in the process. That needs to continue."
Also on the table: keeping some of the Obamacare-era taxes in place for at least awhile to reach the $133 billion savings goal that is required under Senate rules.
"That set off alarm bells here," Club for Growth President David McIntosh said Friday. "The Club for Growth would vigorously campaign against that as fake Obamacare repeal. ... If the Senate was trying to send out a trial balloon, consider it shot down."
McIntosh said his group put out calls to Senate offices making it clear they wouldn't support a bill that kept key Obamacare taxes in place. The Club for Growth is working on designing a campaign to promote the Senate's repeal bill right now, but McIntosh warned it will turn the campaign against the bill if they don't feel it's conservative enough.
Also under discussion is a proposed seven-year "glide path" that would phase out Medicaid expansion more slowly than the House bill would and would be a major win for moderates from expansion states.
One conservative GOP aide said they are feeling squeezed out of the process.
"It's is very frustrating because things are happening behind closed door and we are unable to provide input," the aide said. "(House Speaker) Paul Ryan tried that strategy and ended up with a conservative revolt on his hands, we hope next week Senate leadership will shed more light on the details and process."
Leadership can't ignore conservatives. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can only afford to lose two members and still pass a health care bill. But leadership aides argue that the process is far from a done deal and there are still a lot of details to negotiate. And some conservative members, including Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, vehemently push back on the idea they're losing steam.
"I'm not convinced it's an accurate characterization at this point," Toomey said.
Republican aides emphasize it's go time. Decisions are going to have to be made soon. Majority Whip John Cornyn told reporters last week that the Senate is likely to vote shortly after the July 4 recess. That would require lawmakers to hammer out the details and then in the next few days give something to the independent Congressional Budget Office to score before the vote.
Republican senators have said they want to wait for the CBO score before their legislation comes to the floor, unlike their House counterparts, who passed their bill last month.
On Tuesday, Republicans will huddle once again at their conference lunch to try and find consensus. Last week's meeting included a menu of options. This week's will give members a more fully fleshed out plan based on feedback. A GOP aide familiar with the negotiations characterized the meeting as likely a red light, green light, yellow light situation.
While outside groups are applying pressure, some conservative members within the GOP conference are slowly coming to terms with the fact that the Obamacare repeal bill may not be as robust as they had once hoped. In the end, they argue, it's about getting a repeal bill passed.
"There are parts we're going to keep no matter what. Twenty-six-year-olds stay on their families' policies, no cap on the amount of coverage you can have. Those are things we're already keeping," said Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina.
Pressed on whether he would be comfortable keeping some of the Obamacare taxes in place, Scott said, "I'm not sure that I'm comfortable. I'm comfortable being a part of 51 senators that improves the outcome of America's health insurance conversation, which requires us to act."
"I think there's gotta be some transition period," said Sen. David Perdue, a Republican from Georgia. "It's gonna take some time to transition out of here."
Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, said his own vision for Obamacare repeal has shifted as the process has gone on.
"It is for everybody because we are dealing with the restrictions of reconciliation rules. All of us are dealing with those clear boundaries," Lankford said. "If you have reconciliation rules and you are dealing with 51 votes, how do you get this done?"
CNN's Ted Barrett and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
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Conservatives say they're losing health care bill fight - CNN