Storm Chasing: Tracking Sweeping Healthcare Policies

New initiatives capture attention on Capitol Hill.

New this week: the rebirth of one sweeping health policy, the presumed death of another, and a hint of things to come from a third policy initiative.

First, President Biden has revived his Cancer Moonshot initiative, first launched when Biden was vice president in 2016. The new “supercharged” initiative’s goal is to reduce cancer deaths by 50 percent in the next 25 years. Biden says that one of the reasons he ran for president was to improve cancer outcomes.

Biden’s son Beau died of brain cancer at the age of 46, and Vice President Kamala Harris’s mother also died of cancer.

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death; it’s number two in the U.S., especially in certain populations, although death rates from cancer overall has fallen 25 percent in the last two decades.

The revived Cancer Moonshot will focus on population-level efforts to develop better ways to screen for cancer, especially targeting specific communities. For example, people of color have higher death rates for many cancer types. One way to do this, says the National Cancer Institute, would be to develop a test that would provide early detection of multiple cancers at once.

The head of the National Cancer Institute said this week that we are in the golden age of cancer research, with certain recent advances making the goal of the initiative possible.

Technology used to develop coronavirus vaccines could also stop cancer cells from growing.

Our second area of focus is the apparent demise of state-level single-payer healthcare, at least for this year. The idea of single-payer healthcare was a major theme in the 2020 presidential campaigns, and seemed to get an extra boost during the pandemic, when fissures in our current health system became apparent.

Indeed, legislation for single-payer has been introduced this year in Kansas, Maryland, New York, and California; the most likely chance for success of the policy was in California, where Democrats have a supermajority in the legislature.

Single-payer has been introduced in California before, but never with a plan on how to pay for it. This year, supporters presented a new bill, complete with proposed taxes to support it. But while advocates found the money to pay for the legislation, they could not find the votes to pass it.

Even California’s Governor Gavin Newsom, who ran his campaign on single-payer, would not support the bill, given its cost.

So last week, California’s single-payer legislation was killed before it was even put up for a vote.

In our final story, as a harbinger of what we may see from sweeping price transparency requirements, Mass General Brigham hospital ‒ the dominant, tax-exempt academic hospital in Massachusetts ‒ must submit a plan to the state government to lower costs. The hospital could be fined half a million dollars if doesn’t address its current prices, which, according to a new report, are the highest in the state.

As consumers are provided more and more transparency into hospital prices, we can expect other state governments to follow Massachusetts’s example, going after specific hospitals for their pricing.

Programming Note: Listen to Matthew Albright’s live reports on federal legislation Mondays on Monitor Mondays 10 Eastern, sponsored by Zelis.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Matthew Albright

Matthew Albright is the chief legislative affairs officer at Zelis Healthcare. Previously, Albright was senior manager at CAQH CORE, and earlier, he was the acting deputy director of the Office of E-Health and Services for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Related Stories

Leave a Reply

Please log in to your account to comment on this article.

Featured Webcasts

Leveraging the CERT: A New Coding and Billing Risk Assessment Plan

Leveraging the CERT: A New Coding and Billing Risk Assessment Plan

Frank Cohen shows you how to leverage the Comprehensive Error Rate Testing Program (CERT) to create your own internal coding and billing risk assessment plan, including granular identification of risk areas and prioritizing audit tasks and functions resulting in decreased claim submission errors, reduced risk of audit-related damages, and a smoother, more efficient reimbursement process from Medicare.

April 9, 2024
2024 Observation Services Billing: How to Get It Right

2024 Observation Services Billing: How to Get It Right

Dr. Ronald Hirsch presents an essential “A to Z” review of Observation, including proper use for Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and commercial payers. He addresses the correct use of Observation in medical patients and surgical patients, and how to deal with the billing of unnecessary Observation services, professional fee billing, and more.

March 21, 2024
Top-10 Compliance Risk Areas for Hospitals & Physicians in 2024: Get Ahead of Federal Audit Targets

Top-10 Compliance Risk Areas for Hospitals & Physicians in 2024: Get Ahead of Federal Audit Targets

Explore the top-10 federal audit targets for 2024 in our webcast, “Top-10 Compliance Risk Areas for Hospitals & Physicians in 2024: Get Ahead of Federal Audit Targets,” featuring Certified Compliance Officer Michael G. Calahan, PA, MBA. Gain insights and best practices to proactively address risks, enhance compliance, and ensure financial well-being for your healthcare facility or practice. Join us for a comprehensive guide to successfully navigating the federal audit landscape.

February 22, 2024
Mastering Healthcare Refunds: Navigating Compliance with Confidence

Mastering Healthcare Refunds: Navigating Compliance with Confidence

Join healthcare attorney David Glaser, as he debunks refund myths, clarifies compliance essentials, and empowers healthcare professionals to safeguard facility finances. Uncover the secrets behind when to refund and why it matters. Don’t miss this crucial insight into strategic refund management.

February 29, 2024
2024 ICD-10-CM/PCS Coding Clinic Update Webcast Series

2024 ICD-10-CM/PCS Coding Clinic Update Webcast Series

HIM coding expert, Kay Piper, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, reviews the guidance and updates coders and CDIs on important information in each of the AHA’s 2024 ICD-10-CM/PCS Quarterly Coding Clinics in easy-to-access on-demand webcasts, available shortly after each official publication.

April 15, 2024

Trending News

This Leap Year, celebrate success with a 29% discount one day ONLY! Use code LEAP24 on February 29th at checkout to unlock this offer! Click here to learn more.
It’s Heart Month! Use code HEART24 at checkout to receive 20% off your cardiology products. Click here to view our suite of Cardiology products!