Policy and Legislation
You recently rejoined the private equity world after a number of years working in the national healthcare policy arena. Why did you re-enter private equity and what are some of your investment goals with Consonance Capital Partners?
The long-awaited health insurance exchanges, and in particular the federal HealthCare.gov, opened Oct. 1 in a tangled mess of poor software code, insufficient capacity and functionality and a lack of large IT project management best practices.
Between 1980 and 2009, healthcare expenditures grew by 7.4 percent, which most economists agree would bankrupt the nation if continued.
The issue of price transparency has been bubbling beneath the surface for some years but it boiled up last winter and has stayed top-of-mind ever since.
Whether or not accountable care organizations should take on more risk after just one year of experience or after three years in the Medicare Shared Savings Program was the issue the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission addressed at its monthly meeting Thursday.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has updated a handful of documents in the past week on the controversial regulations surrounding its two-midnight inpatient admissions guidance and patient status reviews.
Two key congressional committees have agreed on a framework to scrap the problematic Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate, or SGR, payment formula for physicians and replace it with one that would link physician reimbursement to the quality of care provided.
The criticisms of Healthcare.gov and the leaders responsible for the roll out have been coming fast and furious since the beginning of October. This week, two of those leaders were in the hot seat.
The Medicare Part A deductible will increase by $32 in calendar year 2014, while the monthly Part A premium will decline by $9 or $15. Part B monthly premiums and deductibles will remain unchanged.
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has introduced a bill that would expand telemedicine coverage for Medicare and Medicaid patients, and adjust payments for certain telehealth services.