For those I caught with my April Fool’s post…I hope you took it in the spirit in which it was intended…
Okay, back to reality (oh no….)
Hospital closures and cutbacks
Another hospital in a non-Medicaid expansion state is closing its ER and shuttering its inpatient care facility. The facility was acquired by a competitor a mile away a few years back…if this goes like most acquisitions folks around Anniston Alabama will likely have poorer outcomes and pay higher prices…
Ignore the corporate happy speak from the owners…this is the same stuff every exec that buys a rival hospital says.
Oh, and here’s research showing the link between Medicaid expansion and hospital closures.
Consolidators are doing just fine…the CEO of CHS just “earned” $8.3 million in pay and perks.
Obamacare…aka the ACA.
Remember way back when folks got all worked up about the ACA, how it was going to kill off old folks, destroy the “best healthcare system in the world”, cost millions of jobs and bankrupt thousands of small employers…and lots of people hated it?
News flash – Americans like it. A lot.
That’s because:
- Pre-existing conditions are covered.
- Kids can be covered under the parent(s)’ insurance till they are 26.
- 45 million Americans get insurance thru Obamacare and/or benefit from its provisions.
- Provisions ensure adequate benefits for mental health, emergency care, maternity and child care and seven other key healthcare needs.
- People who actually had Obamacare plans realized it saved lives.
Oh, and since people with health insurance are healthier than those without, if they’re hurt on the job, they recover faster and employers don’t have to pay to treat co-morbidities.
We’re going to dive deep into the ACA in a coming week…stay tuned for more facts.
Change Healthcare cyber attack
It isn’t over. Owner United Healthcare recently stated patient data had been stolen by hackers.
This is a much bigger story – with much wider implications – than many think.
What does this mean for you?
More stuff affects you and your business than you may think.
