Late week update

The FEHBlog nearly levitated out of his chair yesterday when he read about a study published in Health Affairs criticizing the FEHB Program. The authors are alarmed that

“Average bi-weekly premiums for an individual were lowest ($58.48) in counties where competition between insurance providers was extremely high, compared with areas of low competition ($65.13),”[author Timothy McBride] says.
“This raises concerns about whether the competition will work in the exchanges as intended, everywhere in the country,” McBride says.

The author is freaking out over a $7 price swing??? This study cannot see the forest for the trees. The FEHBP provides many health insurance options to federal employees and annuitants. The competition keeps the Program on the cutting edge of innovation and keeps premiums below the national norm as the FEHBlog has discussed. This is nothing short of a miracle considering the FEHBP's demographics -- half of the enrollees are annuitants and the average age of an enrollee is around 60.

Yesterday, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 436, a bill to repeal two ACA provisions that the FEHBlog has discussed, the medical devices tax and the scripts for OTC drug requirement. Three dozen Democrats joined all of the Republicans in supporting the bill. However, the White House has threatened to veto the law according to Business Insurance and it is unlikely that the Senate will consider the bill this year.

The Leapfrog Group announced on Wednesday that it has begun to award U.S. hospitals letter grades on patient safety which are available at this link. Kaiser Health News has a nice write-up on the program -- including a state by state grade breakdown and not surprisingly Medpage reports that

The American Hospital Association (AHA) disputed Leapfrog's ratings.

"The American Hospital Association has supported several good quality measures, but many of the measures Leapfrog uses to grade hospitals are flawed and they do not accurately portray a picture of the safety efforts made by hospitals," Nancy Foster, vice president of quality and patient safety policy at the AHA, said in a statement.

If the FEHBlog is in need of hospitalization he will check the Leapfrog site.

The FEHBlog is disappointed that he missed the third annual Health Data Initiative Forum which was held earlier this week at the Washington Convention Center.  HHS has a press release about the exciting events of the first day. According to the event's website there was a walking gallery with an art display featuring

Regina Holliday, a nationally-known DC-based patient rights arts advocate, [who] began painting a series of murals depicting the need for clarity and transparency in medical records. Today, she brings together art, medicine, social media and pop-culture and creates a patient voice in health information technology.

Good luck to Ms. Holliday, a fellow blogger.