As the pandemic accelerates and hospitals fill, Arizona became the first state to authorize use of Crisis Standards of Care. In response to the climbing number of confirmed cases, the Governor issued a shutdown order restricted to large gatherings...National News
Last week, 18 states, including Arizona, two individuals and the Trump administration’s Department of Justice filed opening briefs for California v. Texas, a case currently before the Supreme Court that debates the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Nearly 23 million Americans have insurance through the ACA marketplace and...Arizona News
Crisis Response Network announced last week that the new Resilient Arizona Crisis Counseling Program will provide entirely free and confidential support and connections to resources for Arizona residents impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The partnership between the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and the...
Remdesivir is one of the first widely used drugs for COVID-19. It received an emergency use authorization from U.S. regulators in May after a big trial found the medicine sped recovery by about four days in hospitalized patients.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced an agreement to secure large supplies of the...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that it will extend the Medicare Care Choices model until December 31, 2021 and will provide supportive services for the duration of the program. This model allows participating hospices to provide services that are otherwise unavailable if billed under Medicare Parts A, B and D...
On Monday, an HHS spokesman confirmed that the department will extend the national public health emergency for COVID-19 that would otherwise expire on July 25th. The announcement comes as Arizona activates surge plans but resists enacting a full second shutdown of businesses in the state.
Health and Human Services spokesman...
On Tuesday, the American Medical Association's Chief Experience Officer Todd Unger spoke with AMA Chief Health and Science Officer Mira Irons, MD, on the weekly look at the numbers and trends, including a record-breaking weekend in Arizona and new cases and deaths across the country.
The duo discussed a variety of real-time data...
This vendor produced case study provides insight on data-driven approaches that decreased costs , boosted HEDIS scores and CMS Star ratings for a prominent MA plan.
Carenet's approach provides a checklist to consider when choosing a strategy to boost member engagement and change member behavior:
Proactively...
According to Stanford Economist Nicholas Bloom, the U.S. is now a working-from-home economy with 42% of the country's labor force now working from home full-time. Broad coverage this week on how to keep teams engaged and on track, and how to use Zoom to provide support and grow team leaders.
The Stanford Institute for Economic...
Tuesday's ruling from the U.S. District Court takes effect January 2021 and requires hospitals to publicize the rates they negotiate with individual insurers for all services, including drugs, supplies, facility fees and care by doctors who work for the facility.
A President Trump appointee, Judge Carl Nichols, delivered the...
Dexur, a data-driven hospital & healthcare news and research service, analyzed Medicare claims of hospitals in Phoenix for hip and knee replacement, and reported that Abrazo Scottsdale Campus, Arizona Spine & Joint Hospital and The CORE Institute Specialty Hospital had the best value outcomes over a 90-day episode for the popular...Arizona News
Earlier this month, HHS repealed protections for transgender individuals seeking medical care and three days later, the United States Supreme Court delivered a ruling defending LGBT people from discrimination in the workplace under Title VII.
These two major changes in how the law impacts care for sexual and reproductive health...
Last Thursday, CMS released the update of COVID-19 data in nursing homes and corrected their numbers for precision. The initial data release was met with concern over a number of misreported numbers for facilities across the country, as well as missing data from some facilities that submitted information close to the...CMS Rules
Those who are older, lower income, minorities and have chronic conditions are at higher risk for COVID-19.
On June 22, CMS released sought-after Medicare data (Jan 1 to May 16) on beneficiaries’ COVID-19 outcomes that found that more than 325,000 beneficiaries were diagnosed with COVID-19 during that time.
Almost 110,000 were...Arizona News
Last week Arizona hit a new high when for the first time, more than 3,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported in one day.
On June 19 the American Hospital Association (AHA) called on The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to extend the public health emergency declaration set to expire on July 25 until testing capacity...
This week House Democrats released legislation that aims to improve the Affordable Care Act by adjusting key issues in the law and adding incentives to expand Medicaid in states that did not elect to do so.
This legislation comes before the June 25th vote and expected opening briefs in the Supreme Court case California v. Texas,...
President Trump’s visit to Arizona on Tuesday was eclipsed by the continued acceleration of COVID-19 cases in the state. On Wednesday, Arizona ranked in the top five states for new confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
Although mask mandates are being passed in cities across the state, Governor Doug Ducey’s office has not...
Arizona is a leading state in Medicare Advantage (MA) growth; More than ever, Medicare-eligible beneficiaries are deciding $0 co-pays and supplementary benefits trump Original Medicare. This year's MA Data Edition provides a dozen pages of news, data and information on the insurers responsible for the health of more half a million...
Monogram Health and Banner—University Health Plans, a division of Banner Health, announced an agreement designed to improve the coordination of vital care for B – UHP members living with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease.
Banner University Health Plans released this statement,
We’re excited to partner with...
Centene and the National Minority Quality Forum are joining forces to study how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting communities of color.
The Minority and Rural Health Coronavirus Study will offer free diagnostic and antibody testing in five states through Quest Diagnostics and will track 5,000 racial and ethnic minority...CMS Rules
The announcement on Friday, June 19, CMS announced that MA plans must continue not to charge cost sharing (including deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance) or apply prior authorization or other utilization management requirements for COVID-19 tests and testing-related services.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...Arizona News
Over the past week, cases of COVID-19 in Arizona have spiked, causing alarm for doctors, legislators and residents. As is the nationwide trend, indigenous and other vulnerable communities are much harder hit than average.
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, June 16th hit a record number of cases reported....Arizona News
Nursing homes this week experienced a surge of miscommunication during a spike in newly reported cases of COVID-19. Nationally and locally, organizations are trying to grapple with an influx of new information and the ramifications of an old and neglected system.
In the most recent weekly update of CMS data, more nursing homes...National News
Released on Wednesday, the proposal aims to loosen regulations on developing value-based purchasing (VBP) arrangements, encourages innovation, and empowers "states, private payers, and manufacturers to pay for prescription drugs based on clinical outcomes."
The rule gives states flexibility to enter innovative value-based...Arizona News
The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System published its Differential Adjusted Payments (DAP) strategies for CY 2021 that begins October 1.
The purpose of the DAP is to distinguish Medicaid providers committed to supporting designated actions that improve patients’ care experience, improve members’ health, and reduce cost...
National News
