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Melanie MacEachern

Freelance writer with skills and knowledge in healthcare policy, reproductive justice and art history. Skilled administrative assistant. Graduated from University of Michigan.

Author's Posts

Senate Passes Bill to Extend VA Benefits to Veterans Exposed to Toxic Chemicals

Senate Passes Bill to Extend VA Benefits to Veterans Exposed to Toxic Chemicals

MedPAC Report Wants to Streamline APMs Even Further and Reduce MA Overspending

MedPAC Report Wants to Streamline APMs Even Further and Reduce MA Overspending

Last Wednesday, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) published its biennial report to Congress which included recommendations to streamline alternative payment models (APMs) within the Medicare program. It also recommended a strategy to improve accuracy in Medicare Advantage (MA) payments and correct a major contributor to...
Efforts to Curb the Effects of Medical Debt Are Gaining Steam

Efforts to Curb the Effects of Medical Debt Are Gaining Steam

The American insurance-based health care industry certainly has downsides, but none so notorious and archaic as medical debt. Nearly one in five U.S. households have medical debt, and as a result many Americans have lost their homes, assets, had their credit scores lowered beyond repair or been denied subsequent health...
AZ Lawmakers Interrogate ADHS Director Over Auditor General's Nursing Home Complaint Report Arizona News

AZ Lawmakers Interrogate ADHS Director Over Auditor General's Nursing Home Complaint Report

Following the devastating report from the Arizona Auditor General in May, Arizona lawmakers held ADHS interim director Don Herrington's feet to the fire for nearly three hours last Thursday, searching for answers to the damning questions raised by the report. The Arizona Department of Health Services is accused of not following...
National News

COVID-19 Update June 23, 2022: Children 6 Months to 5 Years Old Now Eligible for Vaccination, Considering Surcharges for Unvaccinated Employees

Children between six months and five years old are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccines offered by Pfizer and Moderna. In Arizona, that's nearly 400,000 additional eligibilities. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), the vaccine was made available on Monday, June 20. To find locations where a child under 5...
President Biden Signs Executive Order on LGBTQ Health Care Protections Arizona News

President Biden Signs Executive Order on LGBTQ Health Care Protections

The political landscape for gay, lesbian, queer and especially transgender individuals has been fraught throughout 2022, with a wide range of anti-LGBTQ+ healthcare bills storming through state legislatures across the country. These include directives to prohibit gender-affirming healthcare services for minors in several states,...
COVID-19 Update June 16, 2022 - Cases Still on the Rise in Arizona

COVID-19 Update June 16, 2022 - Cases Still on the Rise in Arizona

This week in Arizona there were 16,334 new recorded cases of COVID-19 and 28 deaths, according to the Arizona Daily Star. In Pima County alone, there were three new deaths and 2,451 new cases. The Arizona Republic reports that Wednesday's new case count amounts to the highest case report since the Arizona Department of Health Services...

How the Federal Government Intends to Address Housing in Healthcare - Arizona on National Radar

The idea that housing has an integral place in patient health and wellness is no longer a hypothetical question. In recent years, the pivot to value-based care (VBC) and research into the impacts on social determinants of health (SDOH) on patient outcomes has been quite clear. But the catch now, in the contemporary American healthcare...

This Week's Value-Based Care News

This week in value-based care, a fresh look at untangling VBC for providers looking to enter into an ACO or payment model, results from the Comprehensive ESRD Care Model, and some market moves in long-term and home healthcare. A new study published in Health Affairs on Monday demonstrates that the first Medicare accountable care...
SCOTUS Sides With AHA on 340B Prescription Drug Program

SCOTUS Sides With AHA on 340B Prescription Drug Program

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously sided with the American Hospital Association (AHA) against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in a case that challenged a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rule that would have cut outpatient drug payments for hospitals that treat Medicaid enrollees and...
Biden Administration Mulls Medicaid Direct Care Spending Mandate as Nursing Shortage Continues CMS Rules

Biden Administration Mulls Medicaid Direct Care Spending Mandate as Nursing Shortage Continues

As nursing homes across the country are grappling with staff shortages exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration is considering a rule that nursing homes spend most of their Medicaid payments on direct care for residents rather than operations or capital improvements. According to Modern Healthcare, the rule would...
Hospital Price Transparency Rule Compliance Remains Low as CMS Moves to Begin Penalties CMS Rules

Hospital Price Transparency Rule Compliance Remains Low as CMS Moves to Begin Penalties

The hospital price transparency rule, which was issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and went into effect on January 1, 2021, is largely being ignored by hospitals who would prefer to absorb any financial penalty than comply. CMS has only started to impose fines as of last Wednesday, according to an agency email, but...
COVID-19 Update: June 9, 2022 Arizona News

COVID-19 Update: June 9, 2022

COVID-19 cases are on the uptick in Arizona, again. But Moderna announced the production of a vaccine that would target the Omicron variant and are returning strong immunity results. The American Medical Association (AMA) has formally defended the authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Arizona...

Representatives Introduce Bill to Protect HCWs from Workplace Violence Following Tulsa Hospital Shooting

Last week, a man attacked St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, killing four people and then himself. In response to this as well as a spate of recent mass shootings across the U.S., Congress is moving to include health care worker protections in a bill aimed at curbing gun violence. The gunman blamed his doctor for pain after a...
Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds Get Short-Term Relief from Pandemic Economic Changes, Maintain Grave Outlook Long Term

Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds Get Short-Term Relief from Pandemic Economic Changes, Maintain Grave Outlook Long Term

Last Thursday, the Social Security and Medicare boards of trustees released their annual reports on each program and reported that the economic recovery was much stronger than anticipated following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, both programs will still face long-term concerns that could reduce retirement benefits and reduce...

REPORT: Kaufman Hall: Hospitals Operate in the Red for Fourth Straight Month

Hospital finances regressed in April 2022 after showing signs of improving earlier this year, according to a new report by Kaufman Hall. The report tags the spring surge in hospitalizations for COVID-19 patients as the main culprit in hospital economic downturn. According to the Flash Report, hospitals experienced a fourth straight...

REPORT: Federally Qualified Community Health Centers in Peril from Staffing, COVID-19, Medicaid Unwinding Concerns

Community health centers played a central role in coordinating care and economic support to disadvantaged communities during the pandemic, according to a report filed last Friday by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). The KFF Report noted that community health centers are experiencing substantial ramifications from the ongoing healthcare...

Arizona Adds Case to Growing Number of Monkeypox Patients

On Tuesday, June 7, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) formally announced that the first probable case of monkeypox was found in Arizona. According to the ADHS press release, the first test returned a presumptive positive result and the department is awaiting further testing from the Centers for Disease Control and...
CMS Rules

CMS Will Drop 2023 Part B Premiums Due to Aduhelm Price Drop

Last Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a report that reviewed the Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Fund for 2023 and determined that cost-savings from unexpectedly low Medicare Part B spending in 2022 could be recommended to drive premium cuts for Part B coverage next year. The...
National News

California to Try VBC for FQHCs; CareMax to Merge with Steward Value-based Division

The California pilot: an alternative payment model (APM) for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to swap out the traditional volume-based prospective payment system with one that emphasizes principles of value-based care.  In other news, CareMax will serve as the value-based management services organization to Steward's entire...
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Healthcare Navigation: Using OIFA Empowerment Tools to Navigate the Healthcare System Register in advance for this webinar The Office of Individual and Family Affairs (OIFA) will demonstrate their empowerment tools and answer questions you may[...]
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