HealthcareInsights.MD will resume on Monday, December 9.
About health insurance/insurers
CMS says ACA open enrollment is on track to set another record for sign-ups “The sign-up period officially kicked off Nov. 1. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said that close to 988,000 people who did not previously have coverage in a marketplace plan have secured it over the past month.
The CMS also said 4.4 million people have returned to a marketplace plan for 2025, putting the exchanges on pace to set another record in enrollment. For the 2024 plan year, the CMS tallied a record 21.4 million sign-ups on HealthCare.gov.”
Enrollment in High-deductible Health Plans Among People Younger Than Age 65 With Private Health Insurance: United States, 2019–2023 “In 2023, among privately insured people younger than age 65, 41.7% were enrolled in an HDHP. Enrollment increased from 40.3% in 2019 to 43.3% in 2021, followed by a decrease to 41.7% in 2023. Among people with employment-based coverage, enrollment in an HDHP increased from 40.2% in 2019 to 43.4% in 2021, followed by a decrease to 41.9% in 2023. For people with directly purchased coverage, enrollment in an HDHP increased from 44.3% in 2019 to 47.0% in 2020, followed by a decrease to 43.1% in 2023.”
Blue Cross Blue Shield will begin limiting anesthesia coverage in some states “Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield will soon change the way it covers anesthesia for procedures in certain states…
Under the new policy, the Chicago-based company said it would determine a specific amount of time it would cover anesthesia costs for, depending on a procedure.
‘Claims submitted with reported time above the established number of minutes will be denied,’ the company said in its announcement.
Exceptions would be made for anyone under the age of 22 and for maternity-related care.
The policy is slated to begin on Feb. 1, 2025.”
Comment: Sounds like global anesthesia rates by procedure.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Kaiser's Risant Health to become $35B system in 5 years: 14 things to know FYI
About pharma
U.S. Patent Office pulls controversial rule to curb pharma patent abuse In an unexpected move, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has withdrawn a controversial proposal that was designed to prevent pharmaceutical companies from abusing the patent system.
Specifically, the proposed rule was crafted to stem the use of so-called patent thickets, which are wielded by drug companies to delay the arrival of lower-cost generic medicines in the marketplace. Essentially, thickets are collections of numerous patents that critics contend add only incremental changes to a drug and, therefore, produce little to no additional benefit to patients.”
About the public’s health
Chocolate intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort studies “Increased consumption of dark, but not milk, chocolate was associated with lower risk of T2D. Increased consumption of milk, but not dark, chocolate was associated with long term weight gain. Further randomized controlled trials are needed to replicate these findings and further explore the mechanisms.”
About healthcare IT
Change Healthcare cyberattack drives 2024 into another record year for health data breaches “As many as 172 million individuals — more than half the population of the United States — may have been impacted by large health data breaches reported to the Department of Health and Human Services in 2024, according to a STAT analysis of records from HHS’ Office for Civil Rights. It’s a new record for the scale of large health care breaches, breaking one set just last year.
The vast majority of those health data breaches — 532 of the 656 reported as of December 4 — have resulted from hacks and ransomware attacks, continuing a years-long trend. Since 2018, HHS has reported, it has seen a 264% increase in large ransomware breaches, and seven health systems have been fined up to $950,000 for failing to protect patients’ protected health information from ransomware attacks.”
About healthcare personnel
Highest-paid specialties for nurse practitioners, physician assistants FYI