- California: The CEO of Long Beach-based insurer Molina Healthcare managed to turn a modest profit on its Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchange business in 2016. Mario Molina attributed the profit to the insurers' history, saying Molina understands "the demographics of the people [whom] we're serving a little better because we've been doing it for so long." The company's experience has influenced Molina's view of the controversial health care law, according to Kaiser Health News/Healthcare Finance. "It doesn't need to be scrapped and replaced," Molina said. "It needs a tuneup" (Kaiser Health News/Healthcare Finance, 3/2).
- Maryland: A coalition of state Democratic lawmakers and ACA advocates are backing a new bill that would establish a new state commission to monitor potential changes to the ACA and how those changes would affect state residents. Under the bill, called the Maryland Health Insurance Coverage Protection Act, the commission would report to the state's General Assembly with recommendations on how the state should respond to any changes (Witte, AP/Kansas City Star, 3/1).
- South Dakota/Florida: Sioux Falls-based Sanford Health is partnering with Miami Children's Health System to sequence the genes of nearly 1,000 Latino and Hispanic children. The goal of the project is to better understand the health needs of those populations by identifying common genomes and genetic patterns. For instance, the genetic data may help clinicians understand if a patient is predisposed to a certain disease or will not tolerate a medication well. The project was made possible by a $7 million donation from Denny Sanford and Sanford Health to the Nicklaus Children's Hospital initiative in Miami (AP/U.S. News & World Report, 3/3).
March 6, 2017
Around the nation: Md. lawmakers push for state commission to monitor ACA debate
Daily BriefingRecommended for You
Recommended Events