Midweek update

Healthcare Dive is reporting that "Average monthly premiums for marketplace plans nationwide are expected to increase 0.6% for 2020 coverage — the lowest increase since the launch of the Affordable Care Act plans, according to an analysis of insurer rate filings submitted to all 50 states and D.C." The FEHBlog is glad that ACA marketplace premiums are stabilizing. It's noteworthy that although ACA marketplace plans are subject to the resumption of the ACA's onerous health insurer tax, the premium don't show a big bump for that event. At this point this hefty tax has been imposed on health insurers, including insured FEHB plans, from 2014 through 2016 and 2018. FEHB premiums didn't jump precipitously in those years due to imposition of the tax. FEHB premiums grew very slowly for this year when the tax is suspended. Will there be an FEHB premium boomerang for 2020? Time will tell. Nevertheless, the FEHBlog continues to believe that this tax and the ACA's medical device tax are misguided.

Following up on the report of a Novartis data manipulation scandal last week, the Boston Globe's STAT reports that

The company previously said it was “in the process of exiting” scientists who were responsible for the scandal but did not identify them. In a statement on Wednesday, Novartis (NVS) said that it had appointed a new chief scientific officer for AveXis and that other scientists, Brian and Allan Kaspar, “have not been not been involved in any operations at AveXis since early May 2019,” without elaborating.

The person familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the departure of the Kaspars, who are brothers, was connected to the disclosure of data manipulation related to the gene therapy Zolgensma.

Consumer health technology company Ciitizen reports launching a scorecard grading healthcare providers on the level of their cooperation with HIPAA's individual right to access their medical records. Citizen explains

We plan to refresh the scorecard every few months based on the most recent record requests sent to a particular provider - so improvement and consistency in good performance can be rewarded (and consistency in poor performance can also be brought to public attention).

In conjunction with the scorecard, we also released survey of 3003 hospitals and healthcare systems who responded to anonymous questions about their record release processes. Their responses suggest that 56% of health care providers are out of compliance with one or more aspects of the HIPAA Right of Access.

Here's a link to the HHS website that explains this individual right.  This right also is discussed in your healthcare provider or your health plan's HIPAA notice of privacy practices.