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The Source Roundup: July 2021 Edition
Michele Ellson, Student Fellow July 1, 2021
This month, we are proud to announce the publication of an issue brief by our Source colleagues Katherine L. Gudiksen, Alexandra D. Montague, and Jamie S. King on the topic of healthcare market consolidation—and more specifically, on what state and federal leaders are doing to deal with it. This month’s Roundup also discusses new research about a potential link between ACO participation and higher prices, hospitals’ lagging price transparency compliance efforts, surprise ambulance bills, the future of telehealth, enrollee satisfaction with public and private health plans, and state employee health …
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Healthcare Merger Challenges: Q2 2021 Update
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor June 15, 2021
In this mid-year issue of Litigation and Enforcement Highlights, we provide updates on several pending healthcare transactions. As much of the country recovers from COVID-19, healthcare entities continue to actively pursue proposed mergers and affiliations that could further change the landscape of the healthcare market. In the last update, federal enforcement agencies saw a mixed bag of results to their enforcement efforts, with an FTC loss against Jefferson-Albert Einstein, a DOJ settlement with Geisinger-Evangelical, and several proposed mergers that buckled under antitrust scrutiny (see case reference table below). Since then, …
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The May Revise: Budget Surplus Enables Push to Expand Healthcare Coverage
Mallory Warner, Health Policy Research Fellow June 14, 2021
A year ago, Governor Newsom had projected a budget deficit of about $54.3 billion for California, resulting in a scramble to balance the precarious budget by cutting and deferring proposals. In a complete reversal, the May Revision to the Governor’s proposed budget, originally released in January, projected an unprecedented surplus of $75.7 billion this year. The Legislative Analyst’s Office reports that only about half of this surplus, about $38 billion, will be available for discretionary spending.[1] The updated spending plan proposed $267.8 billion in spending, an increase from $227 billion …
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Spotlight on State: Florida
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor June 7, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Florida page. Florida is an active state in promoting healthcare price transparency. A key effort is the state’s all-payer claims database, which was mandated by the legislature and implemented in 2016. It also has a consumer-facing website, FloridaHealthFinder, which allows consumers to view performance and outcome data, including average costs, for healthcare facilities …
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Spotlight on State: Texas
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor June 4, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Texas page. For several legislative terms, Texas has enacted legislation to explore the desirability and feasibility of mandating an all-payer claims database (APCD), while the state ran a voluntary claims data collection effort through the University of Texas Center for Healthcare Data. The medical and pharmacy claims collected from the voluntary effort account …
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Spotlight on State: Colorado
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor June 3, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Colorado page. Colorado is a state to watch with aggressive and ahead-of-the-curve efforts to contain healthcare costs and promote health system reform in the state. In 2019, Governor Jared Polis signed an executive order that established the Office of Saving People Money on Health Care, with the goal to study, identify and implement …
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The Source Roundup: June 2021 Edition
Michele Ellson, Student Fellow June 1, 2021
The election of Joe Biden to the presidency could mean expanded access to healthcare coverage and increased government regulation of anticompetitive mergers and other practices. Already, Biden and Congress have increased access by temporarily expanding eligibility for health plan premium tax credits. Are other changes on the horizon? This month’s Roundup covers research on 1) the potential fiscal impacts of expanding eligibility for Medicare, 2) the views of a key stakeholder in conversations about expanding government’s role in providing care and regulating competition, 3) the potential savings that could be …
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[Case Brief] Sidibe v. Sutter Health: The Oldest Chapter in the Sutter Antitrust Saga Sees New Light for Class Plaintiffs
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor May 17, 2021
See case page: Sidibe v. Sutter Health As all eyes were fixated on UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust v. Sutter Health (UEBT), the landmark state antitrust lawsuit that the California attorney general brought against Sutter Health, another long-standing litigation against Sutter in federal court for similar claims has largely gone under the radar. With the final judgment in the state action set to be approved in state court this July, we turn our attention to Sidibe v. Sutter Health, the other case to watch in the ongoing antitrust challenge against …
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Spotlight on State: Connecticut
Mallory Warner, Health Policy Research Fellow and Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor May 15, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Connecticut page. Connecticut is a state to watch on healthcare cost, transparency, and competition. Connecticut’s legislature passed a statute in 2012 establishing an All-Payer Claims Database Program in the state. Connecticut’s APCD, Healthscore CT, contains information about the quality, price and cost of health services in the state to allow healthcare consumers to …
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United States v. Google – Implications of the Antitrust Lawsuit for Health Information
Guest Author May 13, 2021
By: Gregory Curfman, MD On October 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice joined by 11 state attorneys general filed a stunning civil antitrust lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against Google.[1] What will this antitrust case mean for health information, and what other questions are health policy makers asking about Google’s control of health information? The complaint in this high-profile case is that Google engages in anticompetitive practices in the two principal components of its business, general internet search and advertising related …
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