- Arizona: To help combat human trafficking, Dignity Health has trained staff at three Phoenix-area hospitals to look for indicators of possible trafficking, such as homelessness, discrepancies between reported and apparent ages, and lack of identification. The three hospitals—St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Chandler Regional Medical Center, and Mercy Gilbert Medical—have also implemented mandatory screenings in the hospitals' EDs and obstetrics departments. Staff will refer suspected trafficking victims to community agencies for assistance and support (AP/Sacramento Bee, 4/18).
- Massachusetts: Harvard Medical School is offering new online courses in physiology, biochemistry, genetics, and immunology. Each course costs $800, and students who pass a final exam receive one of two certificates from the medical school based on their performance. Harvard Medical School experts or faculty teach the classes, according to MedCity News, which includes real-life medical scenarios filmed in Harvard-affiliated hospitals. The courses will run from June 20 to Sept. 1, 2017, and the deadline for applications will close May 30 (Dietsche, MedCity News, 4/17).
- South Carolina: The state Department of Insurance is suing the federal government for $37 million in payments it says it is owed under the Affordable Care Act's reinsurance program (ACA) exchange. According to the lawsuit, the federal government's decision to withhold payments under the ACA's reinsurance program led to the collapse of the not-for-profit Consumers' Choice Health Insurance Company, which had taken millions in federal loans (Castellucci, Modern Healthcare, 4/17).
What does health care reform beyond the ACA look like? Join us on May 2nd
Stuart Clark, Managing Director
The first part of the Health Care Advisory Board’s latest “State of the Union” explores what the Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress will mean for the future of coverage expansion, payment reform, and federal entitlement programs.
The presentation provides an objective analysis of the next era of health care reform, unpacking the potential futures of Medicare, Medicaid, and the private insurance market—and what those changes would mean for provider strategy. The presentation also includes a detailed assessment of the accomplishments, shortcomings, and unintended consequences of the Obama-era reforms.