About Covid-19
Texas hospital faces closure over vaccine mandate, CEO says: “Nearly 140 rural hospitals have closed since 2010, and the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate could force at least one more to shut its doors.
President Joe Biden's administration is taking steps to require millions of American workers, including certain healthcare workers, to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The plan requires those who work at hospitals and other types of medical facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
Brownfield (Texas) Regional Medical Center, a rural hospital, will lose up to 25 percent of its employees if the vaccine mandate is enforced, CEO Jerry Jasper told KCBD. Losing those workers would probably shut down the hospital because some nurses have already quit to take jobs with nursing agencies that offer higher pay, according to the report.
Not complying with the vaccine mandate and losing Medicare and Medicaid funding isn't an option for Brownfield Regional Medical Center. About 80 percent of the hospital's funding comes from Medicare and Medicaid, Mr. Jasper told KCBD. “
About health insurance
Medicare Program; Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT) and Definition of "Reasonable and Necessary": CMS is asking for comments (due October 15) before rescinding a rule introduced by the Trump administration that allows Medicare to cover medical devices that the FDA designates as "breakthrough" technologies. The reason CMS gives for the change is: “We believe that the finalized MCIT/R&N rule is not in the best interest of Medicare beneficiaries because the rule may provide coverage without adequate evidence that the Breakthrough Device would be a reasonable and necessary treatment for the Medicare patients that have the particular disease or condition that the device is intended to treat or diagnose.”
CMS to Start Reprocessing Site-Neutral Outpatient Claims: “CMS will begin to reprocess claims for outpatient clinic visit services provided at excepted off-campus provider-based departments, following a reinstated site-neutral payment policy. The agency will start the process by November 1, 2021.
Certain claims with dates of services between January 1 and December 31, 2019, will be altered so that the services are paid at the same rate as services received at non-excepted off-campus provider-based departments under the Physician Fee Schedule.”
About healthcare IT
Fitbit, Apple user data exposed in breach impacting 61M fitness tracker records: “An unsecured database containing over 61 million records related to fitness trackers and wearables exposed Apple and Fitbit users' data online.
Researchers with WebsitePlanet and security researcher Jeremiah Fowler discovered a non-password-protected database that contained tens of millions of records belonging to fitness tracking and wearable devices and apps. The unsecured database belonged to GetHealth, which offers a unified solution to access health and wellness data from hundreds of wearables, medical devices and apps…”