Newswire Archives
According to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the hospital segment of the health workforce increased by 8,200 in August 2018 compared to the previous month. Seasonably adjusted, the number of hospital employees was 5,189,300, which is 94,600 more than one year ago.
The report can be obtained at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t17.htm.
Heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular events were responsible for more than 2.2 million hospital stays and 415,000 deaths involving adults in 2016, according to a Vital Signs report released on September 6, 2018 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Unless there is a more serious effort to address risk factors, U.S. adults could experience another 16.3 million cardiovascular events by 2022.
The report can be obtained at https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/pdf/vs-0918-million-hearts-H.pdf.
The Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI) hosted a webinar on August 29, 2018 on how student loan debt has impacts not only on Millennials, but on older workers as well.
The webinar can be obtained at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4viM3pRM8-E&feature=youtu.be
Long-term care insurance (LTCI) can play a role in financing long-term services and supports (LTSS) needs, however, the high cost and complexity of these products and concerns about rising premiums have affected consumer demand. A report from AARP includes facts and figures on LTCI and information on the emerging market for short-term care products.
The report can be obtained at https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/2018/08/disrupting-the-marketplace-the-state-of-private-long-term-care-insurance.pdf.
Huron, a global consultancy, recommends that in assessing engagement and communication, an institution should look for communication that fosters a culture of high accountability through aligned goals, behaviors, and processes. It also should look to build a sponsorship structure that will be the driving force behind implementing the vision set by leadership.
Additional points on how to implement disruptive change can be obtained at https://www.huronconsultinggroup.com/resources/higher-education/leading-through-change.
A report from the National Center for Health Statistics indicates that in the first quarter of 2018, 28.3 million (8.8%) individuals of all ages were uninsured at the time of interview—not significantly different from 2017, but 20.3 million fewer than in 2010. Among adults aged 18–64, 12.5% were uninsured at the time of interview, 19.2% had public coverage, and 70.0% had private health insurance coverage.
The report can be obtained at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/Insur201808.pdf.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an evaluation report for the first performance year of the agency’s Next Generation Accountable Care Organization Model, which generated net savings to Medicare of about $62 million while maintaining quality of care for beneficiaries.
The report can be obtained at https://innovation.cms.gov/Files/reports/nextgenaco-firstannrpt.pdf.
The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) will hold its next Institute on October 3-5, 2018 in Phoenix, AZ. The institute will provide participants the opportunity to acquire and utilize knowledge and skills to further advance their existing institutional interprofessional education and collaborative practice program.
Health professions faculty and their IPE colleagues and collaborative practice partners will have both quality time and dedicated space for guided learning, team-based planning activities, and consultation with experts and peers in order to emerge with an advanced programmatic action plan to augment their current IPE and IPC initiatives in program and outcomes evaluation and assessment. The last day for early bird registration is September 13.
More information can be found here.
The Urban Institute’s Health Reform Monitoring Survey finds that 54.6% of 2018 Marketplace health plan enrollees nationwide received help from a source other than a website the last time they looked for information or enrollment assistance – down from 63.6% in 2016. A growing minority (39.3%) of Marketplace enrollees relied solely on a website for information or enrollment assistance in 2018, up from 22.7% two years ago.
The report can be obtained at http://hrms.urban.org/quicktakes/55-percent-marketplace-enrollees-turn-others-information-assistance-health-plan.html.
Health care added 16,700 new jobs in July 2018, below the 12-month average of 23,800 new jobs per month. Hospitals added 6,800 jobs in July, under the 12-month average of 7,900. Ambulatory settings such as physician offices added 9,900 new jobs, below the 12-month average of 15,600. Year over year (July 2018 compared to July 2017), health jobs grew by 1.8% while non-health jobs grew by 1.6% and the health share of total jobs was steady at 10.75%.
The report can be obtained at
https://altarum.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-related-files/SHSS-Labor-Brief_August_2018.pdf.
One in four U.S. adults has a disability that has an impact on major life activities, including 40 percent of adults age 65 and older, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most common disability type – mobility, or serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs – affects one in seven adults.
The report can be obtained at
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6732a3.htm?s_cid=mm6732a3_e.
Changes in requirements by accreditors for higher education institutions could encourage them to change their tax status in order to reduce federal oversight.. Public institutions are beginning to purchase for-profit institutions, previously difficult and burdensome to accomplish, and others are considering changing to a nonprofit status. Those changes may no longer face as much scrutiny by the federal government, especially by the Department of Education which has relaxed oversight since the Obama Administration.
Read the full article from Inside Higher Education here.
A report from the U.S. Census Bureau provides historical context and data from the Current Population Survey and the American Community Survey to highlight characteristics that are more current. Differences can be seen by demographic, social, and geographic characteristics across the digital divide between those who have and those who lack access to computers and the internet, which affects the ability of individuals to obtain many forms of health information.
The report can be obtained at https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2018/acs/ACS-39.pdf..
A new report from the Urban Institute report provides the first look at the relationship between a borrower’s credit history and the probability of default. Using nationally representative data from one of the nation’s three credit bureaus and following student borrowers who entered repayment in 2012, new light is shed on who defaults.
The report can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/98884/underwater_on_student_debt.pdf.
The end of the individual mandate penalty in 2019 and the Trump administration's promotion of short-term health plans are among recent policy changes that significantly could erode the ability to find affordable, comprehensive coverage in the individual insurance market. In a new Commonwealth Fund report, RAND researchers examine several options for making health insurance more accessible to Americans who shop for their own coverage.
The report can be obtained at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/Liu_expanding_enrollment_without_mandate.pdf.
An announcement from the Department of Education reveals that it plans to repeal the Obama administration’s gainful employment rule. In place of the rule, the Department plans to expand program-level outcomes data available from the College Scorecard, but without any measures that punish those programs with poor outcomes.
More information can be obtained at https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2017/gainfulemployment.html.
On August 9, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that would overhaul the Medicare Shared Savings Program, which is the program established by the Affordable Care Act and launched in 2012 under which the vast majority of Medicare’s Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) operate. The redesigned program is called “Pathways to Success.”
More information can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-proposes-pathways-success-overhaul-medicares-aco-program.
A new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) presents information on enrollment in and spending for Medicaid managed care and analyzes factors affecting those measures—including the types of beneficiaries, geographic areas, and range of services that managed care programs cover.
The report can be obtained at https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=2018-08/54235-MMC_chartbook.pdf.
The Trump Administration issued a final rule on August 3, 2018 reversing federal limits on short-term health coverage, allowing such plans to become a long-term alternative to individual-market coverage. To the Point, a publication of The Commonwealth Fund, discusses how insurance departments in the 17 states that run their own marketplaces are working on the eve of this policy shift.
More information can be obtained at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2018/do-states-know-short-term-health-plan-markets.
The Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Disasters and Emergencies at the National Academy of Sciences hosted a 2-day public workshop on March 20 and 21, 2018 to explore several objectives developed by a planning committee, including the private health system and federal perspectives on the nation’s capacity to respond to threats to health, safety, and security.
A workshop report can be obtained at https://www.nap.edu/read/25203/chapter/1#vi.
