March 18, 2021 | Nurses face COVID-related mental health challenges
INDUSTRY NEWS
Analysis: Procedure prices vary dramatically
Healthcare Dive analysis found dramatic price ranges for the same procedure, even within the same hospital. The analysis examined the prices for joint replacements and deliveries, including caesarean sections. One example, the price of hip or knee replacement can range from $22,865 to $101,571. Such comparisons only became possible recently: As of Jan. 1, hospitals must publicly reveal the negotiated rates reached with insurers for services, “a landmark shift in the sector notoriously opaque when it comes to pricing,” Healthcare Dive reports. (Healthcare Dive)
Jost on the American Rescue Plan and the ACA
In a blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, health law expert Timothy S. Jost looks at some ways the American Rescue Plan provisions will improve health care access. In addition to expanding Medicaid and CHIP funding, it will provide subsidies for COBRA continuation coverage and increase subsidies for marketplace coverage—including for people receiving unemployment insurance. The CBO estimates that the premium reductions will increase marketplace coverage by 1.7 million people, 1.3 million of whom would otherwise be uninsured. The provisions are temporary, but they could be made permanent. (Commonwealth Fund)
INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION
ONC update: data reporting and passports
The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is working with the CDC on modernizing public health data reporting capabilities, ONC head Micky Tripathi told Health IT Leadership Roundtable attendees. Systemic problems with public health infrastructure's current makeup remain—highlighted by issues related to tracking and allocating vaccines. "There's no magic wand," Tripathi said. "We need to understand how we can make these work more effectively in the future." The ONC is also working with other federal agencies on guidance for COVID-19 “vaccination passports.” (Healthcare Dive )
CONSUMERS & PROVIDERS
Peds lack time for tobacco counseling
Pediatric primary care clinicians frequently screen parents for smoking but rarely provided smoking cessation counseling, according to research from PLOS One. Pediatric patients are affected by the smoking behavior of parents, “making it important that we provide education, resources and support to the parents,” coauthor Tregony Simoneau, MD, tells Healio Primary Care. Clinicians often lack the time to make smoking cessation discussions a priority during well-child visits. (Healio; PLOS One)
Nurses face COVID-related mental health challenges
One in four nurses (24%) have sought mental health support since March 2020, according to a survey by the American Nurses Foundation (ANF). Among those under 34, the percentage is 36%—and most respondents in that age group disagreed with the statement "My employer values my mental health." ANF Executive Director Kate Judge points out that the full impact of this experience remains unclear. “There's no unseeing and unliving what they lived," she tells MedPage Today. The survey also revealed that 15% of nurses said they still lack adequate access to PPE, and another 12% were uncertain. (MedPage Today; survey results)
NEW & NOTED
CMMI programs under review: Many of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s value-based care payment models are undergoing a review, CMS recently told Fierce Healthcare. CMS has been quietly updating and delaying several payment models. “CMS remains steadfast in its commitment to transforming the healthcare system into one that rewards value and care coordination,” the agency said. (Fierce Healthcare)
SCOTUS Medicaid case on hold: At the request of the Biden administration, the Supreme Court has called off upcoming arguments over the Trump administration requiring Medicaid recipients to work. The court had been scheduled to take up the issue on March 29. (AP)
Long-term damage to mental health: A year in the COVID-19 pandemic has done damage to our mental wellbeing, and that impact may be felt for years—especially among young people, says Dr. Mark Rapaport, CEO of the Huntsman Mental Health Institute. For example, the CDC reports that emergency room visits for mental health concerns by young people are up nearly 50%. (Salt Lake Tribune)
MULTI-MEDIA
Kaiser Health News has created a new video series entitled “Explained by KHN” in which its correspondents and editors answer common health care and health policy questions. The first episode will answer common consumer questions about the COVID vaccines. (KHN)
MARKETVOICES...QUOTES WORTH READING
“We don’t know the impact of all of these changes on children of different ages. […] We have to be very, very vigilant.”—Dr. Mark Rapaport, CEO of the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, discussing how the mental health issues the pandemic left behind could remain for years, quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune