TGIF

Roll Call reports this afternoon that "Republican tax writers signed off Friday on a compromise plan to overhaul the tax code, bringing House and Senate negotiations to a close and setting up final votes on the legislation early next week. The tax conference agreement was set to be released Friday at 5:30 p.m."

FedWeek reports that

There is a common misconception that the Federal Employees Health Benefits program covers long-term care needs. In fact, long-term care is primarily not medical care and the benefits for such care under FEHB (or Medicare) are limited, covering only short periods and only certain types of care in some situations.

FEHB plans don’t cover custodial care, a stay in an assisted living facility, or a continuing need for a home health aide to help you with other activities of daily living. Limited stays in skilled nursing facilities can be covered in some circumstances. Specifics are in sections 5(a) and 5(c) of FEHB plan brochures.

Why would you need the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program if the FEHBP already covered those services? The author's conclusion is correct though.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has added more quality information to its Physician Compare website. Oh, boy!

New York Presbyterian, a New York City based health system, announced earlier this week that

NewYork-Presbyterian and Walgreens are collaborating to bring convenient access to NewYork-Presbyterian’s world-class care through new telemedicine services, now available through Walgreens digital properties and at self-service kiosks at select Duane Reade drugstores in New York. NewYork-Presbyterian, New York’s No. 1 hospital, is offering the telemedicine services as part of its NYP OnDemand suite of digital health services.

Healthcare Dive added that

Speaking at an Axios event in Washington, D.C., last week, NYP President and CEO Steven Corwin underscored telehealth’s potential to disrupt healthcare.
This year alone, NYP has performed about 10,000 telehealth visits, Corwin noted. One area that has surpassed expectations is telepsychiatry. “I thought that was going to be something patient’s wouldn't accept,” Corwin said. “Quite the contrary. The Net Promoter Score of the telepsychiatry consult is 95. The Net Promoter Score of Netflix is 75. We are talking about a sea change in the way that we’re delivering care.”

 Interesting.