Monday Musings

Well yesterday the FEHBlog could not find a relevant Congressional hearing this week. Today FCW.com reports that the House Appropriations Committee will mark up its subcommittee approved financial services and general government appropriations bill tomorrow.  Here's a link to the Committee's announcement.

The OPM appropriations discussion begins on page 74 of the Committee report.  FCW.com explains that the Committee "calls on OPM to do a better job on its own, with the $309 million in funding allowed by the bill. Lawmakers want OPM to speed up retirement processing, eliminate delays to federal hiring and improve the user experience at USAJOBS, the only front door for applicants to federal jobs."

Health Payer Intelligence reports that the large Blue Cross licensee is acquiring Beacon Health Options, a behavioral managed care company that serves millions of people across the country.  Here's a link to the companies's press release issued last Thursday.  Health Payer Intelligence explains that

Beacon Health Options is not a payer, but instead contracts with different payers to help manage mental and behavioral health for beneficiaries. It also works with employers to help offer this as a benefit to workers. 

The acquisition by Anthem will allow Beacon Health Options to fully scale its offerings, the organizations said. In combination with Anthem’s existing mental and behavioral health management programs, the pair will be able to promote patient-centered care. 

Fierce Healthcare discusses the American Medical Collection Agency data breach. Because the company connects consumer debts for large laboratory companies, among other heath care providers, the breach is estimated to effect 20 million people.  The FEHBlog found this Krebs on Security post illuminating.

Studies

• Fierce Healthcare informs us that

Individuals who are living with chronic or acute conditions have a much different view of the social determinants of health (SDOH) compared with researchers and the media, according to a new study (PDF) out of the Anthem Public Policy Institute.

Individuals are focused on daily influences such as finding the right doctor and nutritional food, while researchers focus on more structural factors such as education and income level, according to the report. Partnered with Quid, the report made these determinations by examining the conversations in news articles and academic papers along with patient forums focused on cancer, diabetes and mental health conditions.

• The Federal Times disturbingly reports that 

Nationwide efforts to address the opioid epidemic have resulted in a reduction in the number of opioids prescribed to patients and the length of time a physician can prescribe such medication to a patient without extenuating circumstances.

But a June 6 report by the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General found that the number of postal workers who receive opioid prescriptions under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act program has not seen a similar reduction.

Here's a link to the full Postal Service Inspector General report.