Mid- week update

Kaiser Health News provides a helpful overview of the healthcare topics in the President's State of the Union address last night.  President "Trump vowed to take on prescription drug prices, pursue an end to the HIV epidemic and boost funding for childhood cancers."

The Federal Times discusses an OPM request to the public for information on how to create a unified enrollment system for the FEHBP.  Benefeds provides a platform that works for the the federal employee dental, vision, and flexible spending. Here's some advice from the FEHBlog make sure that the new enrollment system allows FEHBP carriers to reconcile premiums with enrollees. Stunningly, the current system does not provide that capability which the common operating rules for HIPAA 820 electronic premium roster transaction standardized for over five years ago.

Healthcare Dive reports on a study published in Health Affairs concluding that hospital prices have rising faster than doctor's prices recently. "The findings suggest that policy measures aimed at cutting healthcare costs should focus on issues like antitrust enforcement, incentivizing more cost-efficient physician referrals and reference pricing." The study must have struck a nerve because the Healthcare Dive report mentions an American Hospital Association retort to the Health Affairs study.

In that regard, Becker's Hospital Review reports that "Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health and Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System have decided to discontinue merger discussions roughly four months after signing a letter of intent to combine their organizations." The merger would have placed 15% of the hospitals located in Texas under one management.