Editorial: 'This is a disaster'
Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Modern Healthcare Metrics
MDHC_Logotype_white
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Register
  • Login
  • News
    • This Week's News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition
    • States focus on healthcare costs to address coverage problems
      Value-based pay still struggles to improve costs, quality
      Quorum Health considering buyout offer from KKR
      Better neighborhoods boost children's health, study finds
    • Lacking specialist access drives health disparities
      Genetic Counseling
      Addressing barriers
 to expanding 
genetic counseling
      2,200 University of Chicago nurses ratify contract
      UPMC's operating income continues to spiral downward
    • Silver-loading, CSR elimination lowered premiums for some rural enrollees
      Centene to sell Illinois plan to CVS Health
      Blue Cross of Idaho unveils souped-up short-term health plans
      Health insurers' debt obligations have soared in the last decade
    • States focus on healthcare costs to address coverage problems
      Hospitals sue HHS over negotiated price disclosure rule
      Michigan governor: Legislature should help pause Medicaid work rules
      Dr. Stephen Hahn, FDA Commissioner
      Week Ahead: Committee likely to vote on nominee for FDA commissioner
    • Smallest hospitals saw biggest earnings gains last month
      Sutter Health postpones financial filing
      doctor helping patient stock image Sandoz
      Sponsored Content Provided By Sandoz
      As hospital executives look to reduce costs, biosimilars offer a compelling option
      Health systems issuing bonds at feverish pace
    • astronaut
      Astronauts developed bloodstream issues in space
      Sponsored Content Provided By ABM Healthcare
      Protecting and Maintaining Medical Devices
      human hand robotic hand stock image
      Sponsored Content Provided By Deloitte
      The Health System of the Future: How Digital Health Technology is Transforming Care
      EHR
      EHR vendors most in-use throughout Medicare incentive program
    • MRIs of dense breasts find more cancer but also false alarms
      Flu season takes off quickly in Deep South states
      Uber driver says South Carolina hospital dumped patient on him
      1 in 3 adults age 45 and older reported being lonely in a 2018 AARP survey
      Data Points: Loneliness and its impact on health
    • Mayo Clinic taps Dr. John Halamka to lead its Google partnership
      Jay Shannon out as CEO of Cook County Health
      Cleveland Clinic names Dr. James Merlino as chief clinical transformation officer
      Former Cone Health CEO Dennis Barry dies
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Special Features
    • Best Practices
    • InDepth Special Reports
    • Innovations
    • Arkansas Children’s was a founding partner in Solutions for Patient Safety.
      Children's hospitals collaborate rather than compete on patient safety
      Peer recovery specialists at St. Barnabas Medical Center work with nurse Brenna Zarra.
      Peer recovery helping patients with addiction seek treatment
      UNC Health Care trains staff to treat dementia patients
      Doctor running
      Plain language alerts help Piedmont Healthcare patients, staff avoid confusion
    • Linda Kenney
      Patient advocate recalls two medical errors that nearly killed her
      Betsy Lehman
      Recent safety scandals suggest healthcare leaders haven't learned lessons
      Doctors and nurse with patient
      20 years after 'To Err is Human,' hospital care quality measures are still of little use
      Dr. Christine Cassel
      To err is human. That’s still true 20 years later, but some solutions to the problem aren’t helping
    • Advanced ICU Care
      Telemedicine helps rural hospitals meet intensivist shortage
      Randy Oostra, CEO of ProMedica
      HCR ManorCare deal laid foundation for ProMedica’s growth
      Paging Dr. Robot: Artificial intelligence moves into care
      A child being screened for vision problems using a smartphone.
      App screens kids for eye problems before they can talk
  • Transformation
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • ProMedica doubles down on social needs data analysis
      Amazon taps first pharmacy for Alexa Rx management
      Trump administration unveils new price transparency rules
      A child being screened for vision problems using a smartphone.
      App screens kids for eye problems before they can talk
    • Home health to pare down therapy services, up telehealth offerings
      Amazon launches medical transcription service
      Hospitals' uncompensated care continues to rise
      Supply chain tweaks could help average hospital hire up to 165 more nurses
    • Advanced ICU Care
      Telemedicine helps rural hospitals meet intensivist shortage
      Peer recovery specialists at St. Barnabas Medical Center work with nurse Brenna Zarra.
      Peer recovery helping patients with addiction seek treatment
      UNC Health Care trains staff to treat dementia patients
      UPS to kick off drone delivery service with hospital campuses
    • Value-based pay still struggles to improve costs, quality
      Hospitals sue HHS over negotiated price disclosure rule
      Bundled payments get a boost in two states with employee programs
      CMS wants primary-care docs to take on financial risk
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Data Points
    • Modern Healthcare Metrics
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
    • Randy Oostra, CEO of ProMedica
      HCR ManorCare deal laid foundation for ProMedica’s growth
      Steve Strongwater
      How Atrius Health stayed independent by not shying away from risk
      Why moving the VA to a new EHR was a pivotal decision
      Why AdventHealth's rebrand was more than a name change
    • Terry Shaw
      A diverse and inclusive culture should empower others
      Paving the path to diversity and inclusion
      The next step in healthcare evolution
      Breaking Bias: A road map to boost women and minorities into healthcare leadership
    • David Dill and Keith Myers
      Healthcare partnerships are a proven path to better care, healthier communities
      Health systems need to devote more resources to caring for the caregivers
      Chip Kahn and Alan Morgan
      Rural healthcare needs innovation, policy changes to survive
      Fawn Lopez and Bernard Tyson
      In remembrance and gratitude for a life well-lived
    • Hospital with money
      Letters: Let providers set their prices,
 and then publish them all
      Letters: Ambulatory surgery centers aren't getting a break on regulation
      Letters: Rising Medicaid spending isn't a windfall for providers
      Letters: The complexity of prior authorization runs deep
    • Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      How blockchain could ease frustration with the payment process
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Three steps to better data-sharing for payer and provider CIOs
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Reduce total cost of care: 6 reasons why providers and payers should tackle the challenge together
      Sponsored Content Provided By Optum
      Why CIOs went from back-office operators to mission-critical innovators
  • Awards
    • Nominate
    • Award Programs
    • Previous Award Programs
    • Other Award Programs
    • Nominations Open - Top 25 Minority Leaders
      Nominations Open - Health Care Hall of Fame
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Top 25 Minority Leaders
    • Top 25 Women Leaders
    • Excellence in Nursing Awards
    • Design Awards
    • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
    • 100 Top Hospitals
    • ACHE Awards
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Webinars
    • Kronos webinar logo lockup
      Sponsored Content Provided By Kronos
      Webinar: The Future of Work in Healthcare
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Healthcare Transformation Summit
    • Critical Connections: Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Workplace of the Future Conference
    • Strategic Marketing Conference
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala (2020)
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Opinion & Editorial
July 14, 2017 01:00 AM

Editorial: 'This is a disaster'

Merrill Goozner
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print
    Merrill Goozner

    Imagine the fate of a corporate tax reform bill rejected by every affected industry group, whether retailers, financial firms or manufacturers. Would that pass Congress?

    Of course not. Yet that is what the Senate leadership seeks with its latest version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act. I keep searching my email inbox for a single healthcare lobbying organization that supports the bill.

    The health insurance industry does not support creating an individual market that has no individual mandate, allows sale of bare-bones plans and provides inadequate high-risk pool payments for any remaining ACA-compliant plans, which will still be required to take all comers.

    The nation's 5,000 hospitals, which collectively are either the largest or second-largest employer in virtually every American community, vehemently oppose ripping hundreds of billions of dollars out of Medicaid over the next decade. That will inevitably lead to higher uncompensated-care costs, higher hospital prices and force major job reductions across the sector.

    Groups representing the nation's nearly 1 million physicians have come out against any bill that would roll back the insurance expansion in the Affordable Care Act. Experts say the forthcoming Congressional Budget Office score of this bill will be little different from the earlier version, which foresaw 22 million fewer insured in a decade.

    Beyond industry opposition, hundreds of consumer and patient advocacy groups are mobilizing to oppose the BCRA because it will force states and insurers to strip away vital support for maternity care, behavioral health and the long-term support needed by the frail elderly, blind and disabled.

    Here's just one example. The March of Dimes just released a study that estimated removing maternity care as an essential benefit would raise premiums for women who wanted that coverage by 25% to 70%, while saving everyone else just $10 a month in premiums.

    The bill also defunds Planned Parenthood for a year while making it more difficult for state Medicaid programs, which pay for about half the deliveries in the U.S., to deliver prenatal care. That will inevitably lead to higher rates of infant mortality, higher rates of premature delivery and higher neonatal intensive-care unit costs.

    For years, ACA supporters were subjected to false accusations that the legislation was crafted in secret without input from Republicans. It wasn't just dozens of prepassage hearings that belied that charge. At the end of the process, every major healthcare industry and special interest group signed onto the bill. That doesn't happen without dialogue.

    The McConnell bill was crafted in secret by a small group of GOP legislators. Its compromises—an amendment by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that reopens the door to bare-bones, high-deductible plans; more money for opioid treatment and high-risk pools; and an opt-out from Medicaid caps for states that declare medical emergencies—do nothing to change its fundamental flaws.

    Millions of Americans will still lose insurance coverage or have vastly inferior plans. The BCRA will still reduce the subsidies for low-income people who buy plans on the exchanges. It will still raise premiums for older, sicker people in the individual insurance market. And it will still force states, especially those that expanded Medicaid, to cut back coverage.

    The head of the organization representing state Medicaid directors, two-thirds of whom report to Republican governors, offered this public evaluation of the McConnell bill. "This is unworkable. . . . This is a disaster."

    The Trump administration and the GOP leadership in Congress do not seem to understand that repeating a lie does not make it true. Obamacare is not failing. More people are insured today than ever before. The individual insurance markets need fixing, but in most areas of the country they are stabilizing.

    A handful of GOP moderates in the Senate are now all that stand in the way of legislation that would turn that lie into reality, and makes things worse than before the ACA. Here's hoping they listen to their constituents.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Sponsored Content
    Get Free Newsletters

    Sign up for free enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today

    The weekly magazine, websites, research and databases provide a powerful and all-encompassing industry presence. We help you make informed business decisions and lead your organizations to success.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Instagram

    Stay Connected

    Join the conversation with Modern Healthcare through our social media pages

    MDHC_Logotype_white
    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2019. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • This Week's News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition
    • Special Features
      • Best Practices
      • InDepth Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Transformation
      • Patients
      • Operations
      • Care Delivery
      • Payment
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Data Points
      • Modern Healthcare Metrics
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate
      • Award Programs
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Top 25 Minority Leaders
        • Top 25 Women Leaders
      • Previous Award Programs
        • Excellence in Nursing Awards
        • Design Awards
        • Top 25 COOs in Healthcare
      • Other Award Programs
        • 100 Top Hospitals
        • ACHE Awards
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Healthcare Transformation Summit
        • Critical Connections: Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Workplace of the Future Conference
        • Strategic Marketing Conference
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Minority Leaders Gala (2020)
      • Webinars
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing