EMILY SCHABACKER
A Trump-era law meant to drive down health care costs through increased price transparency is proving ineffective in creating competition between hospitals.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Price Transparency rule aims to lift the veil over hidden health care prices by requiring hospitals to publish the price of common health care services. The prices must be publicly available in a âmachine readableâ spreadsheet, referred to as a chargemaster, of gross charges, discounted rates for those without insurance and payer specific negotiated rates.
The rule also requires hospitals have a consumer-friendly cost estimation tool of standard charges for at least 300 âshoppableâ services, or services that can be scheduled in advance such as a knee replacement or a colonoscopy. CMS established 70 required procedures, but the remainder are left up to hospitals to decide its most common procedures.
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Hospital worker flu shots could mean fewer deaths
January 26, 2021
State vaccination mandates can reduce the spread of flu in vulnerable patients
Pneumonia and the flu kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, racking up billions of dollars in medical costs and even more in lost productivity.
But new research from the University of Georgia shows that state laws promoting flu vaccinations for hospital workers can substantially reduce the number of influenza-related deaths.
Spanning 23 years, the study looked at the mortality rate from influenza and pneumonia during peak flu season (from December through March of each year), comparing changes in mortality over time in the 13 states and Washington, D.C., that adopted laws to the changes in mortality in states without laws. All states that passed laws require the flu vaccines to be offered to hospital employees. Eleven took it a step further by mandating that workers be vaccinated or required documentation of refusal, with thre
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