Dec 30, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Managed Care Contracts & Payer Reimbursement
In this second installment of a two-part briefing, the impact of the Affordable Care Act on healthcare spending by businesses and consumers during the past eight years is assessed
No single piece of legislation during the Obama Administration generated more controversy than the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which became law in 2010. It was touted by proponents within and without the administration as the needed solution to the nation’s healthcare problems.
The two biggest problems with healthcare in the United States are probably the sustained year-over-year growth in total healthcare spending and the large number of Americans who lack adequate health insurance. At the time that the ACA was signed into law by President Obama, there were assurances that this law would help solve both problems.
Thus, at the end of the Obama Administration’s eight years in office, both academic experts and journalists are writing their assessment about how the ACA has changed healthcare in the United States. This is a high-interest subject for medical laboratories and pathology groups, hospitals and health systems, and physicians. (more…)
Dec 28, 2016 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
A look at the numbers resulting from healthcare reform and the Affordable Care Act across the eight years of the Obama Administration
Over the eight years of the Obama administration, there has been significant and unprecedented legislation intended to address the well-known problems with health insurance and high healthcare costs in this country. There has also been plenty of bluster, criticism, and commentary about the consequences of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which became law in 2010.
With a new administration and Congress about to take office, many media outlets and experts are looking back over the past eight years to assess what actually happened to the US healthcare system during this time. From independent medical laboratories and pathology groups, to large-scale health systems, reform and the impact of the Obama Administration has changed—and continues to change—the way America approaches healthcare.
Over President Obama’s two terms, there were significant changes to payment structures, insurance markets, and communications between healthcare service providers. In turn, these initiatives have spurred innovation and drastically altered the way many healthcare and diagnostics providers operate. (more…)
Dec 21, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Local medical labs and pathology groups are often excluded from narrow networks. Thus, another round of “network provider reduction” is a serious issue
Total enrollment in health insurance products may be increasing, but in its recently-issued study, McKinsey and Company determined that the Health Insurance Marketplace (Health Exchange) is shrinking even as the number of enrollees continues to rise.
The development is unfavorable to the nation’s clinical laboratories and pathology groups because fewer health plans on the exchange means less access to patients. It also means that the remaining health insurers are taking steps to further narrow their existing networks in order to curb expenses by limiting options.
The new report published by McKinsey and Company reveals that insurers are moving towards plans that offer fewer options for consumers, mostly due to losses suffered on the health exchanges. The report, titled, “2017 Exchange Market: Plan Type Trends,” states that in 2017 a majority of the healthcare plans (about 75%) available to consumers under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will be Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and other similar limited-option plans, such as Exclusive Provider Organizations (EPOs).
EPOs are a hybrid of HMOs and PPOs and share some common options from both. Of the states investigated, McKinsey found that about 15% of customers eligible for ACA exchanges will have no PPOs available to them. (more…)
Dec 16, 2016 | Compliance, Legal, and Malpractice, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Accountable Care Act has reduced the number of uninsured, but has failed to deliver lower costs for most Americans or employers
More big increases are coming to Obamacare premiums during 2017. This is an important development and, depending on how the new Congress decides to address problems with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the consequences can be either positive or negative for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups.
Large increases in healthcare premiums can have a trickle-down effect on clinical laboratories and pathology groups since health insurers tend to reduce reimbursements to providers when they are in a financial squeeze. And while the November election puts the future of the ACA in doubt, a recently released Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) study adds further evidence that Obamacare (colloquial for the ACA) has fallen short of its goal of reining in healthcare costs while simultaneously expanding healthcare coverage to millions of Americans.
The KFF study shows premiums in the ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplace will continue to increase in many regions in 2017. Researchers blame the higher price in part to the phasing out of the ACA’s reinsurance program and the unexpected losses many participating insurers have experienced. (more…)
Dec 14, 2016 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing
Because of ongoing advances in gene sequencing and the data analytics needed to interpret that information, new approaches to clinical care are becoming available to physicians and pathologists
COLD SPRING HARBOR, NEW YORK—Internationally-recognized as a leader in bringing together the brightest minds in genetics, the Banbury Center at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) produced a three-day conference here last week to explore the future state of anatomic pathology and identify opportunities in genetic medicine and image sciences that play to the strengths of the nation’s pathology laboratories.
“Evolution and Revolution in Anatomic Pathology: Automation, Machine-Assisted Diagnostics, Molecular Prognostics, and Theranostics” was the title, and the meeting’s organizers were CSHL and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Northwell Health.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Founded in 1890
The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has a long history and an enviable reputation. It was founded in 1890 to train teachers in biology. However, by 1904, the laboratory’s mission had been expanded to include research in genetics. In 1924, the research mission was further enlarged to include quantitative biology—in particular, physiology and biophysics.
It was in 1968 that Nobel laureate James Watson, then a professor at Harvard University, accepted the directorship of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory while also keeping his professorship at Harvard University. Watson served at some level of leadership until 2008, when he became Chancellor Emeritus. Currently CSHL laboratory houses about 200 research-related personnel. (more…)
