In
this issue
Toni Strand, RN, honored with MHA
Caregiver of the Year Award
MHA on June 2 honored innovative programs and outstanding leaders in health
care at its 33rd annual awards ceremony.
Registered nurse Toni Strand, house charge nurse at Avera Marshall Regional
Medical Center, received the MHA Caregiver of the Year Award, which recognizes
an individual or caregiving team for providing outstanding patient-care
services.
Strand is described by leaders as engaged, eager to help, supportive and a good
problem-solver. As a busy critical access hospital, Avera Marshall gives Strand
the opportunity to serve in multiple areas. She oversees day-to-day staffing
and all associated nursing operations for behavioral health, medical/surgical,
OB/post-partum, emergency and ICU.
Avera Marshall offers care in a number of specialties, with high activity in
orthopedics and obstetrics. Strand is in charge of code teams and is a
superuser for the electronic medical record system. She led Avera Marshall's
medication reconciliation improvement project and took significant ownership
for improved medication safety. She responds to traumas and delivers special
care, such as ventilating, to critical infants while awaiting transfer.
Additional award winners will be profiled in upcoming issues of Newsline. To
learn more about the award winners, visit the MHA website. return to top
Sen. Klobuchar visits Northfield
Hospital
At MHA’s invitation, U.S. Sen. Klobuchar on Saturday met with Northfield
Hospital & Clinics to hear the health care provider’s perspective and
listen to concerns about the U.S. Senate’s health care bill, known as the
Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). President and CEO Steve Underdahl shared
that the bill will increase the number of uninsured Minnesotans who will seek
care in the emergency room instead of primary and preventative care and will
ultimately impact the hospital’s ability to serve its community. return to top
Senate releases Better Care
Reconciliation Act
Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate unveiled its draft bill to repeal
and replace the Affordable Care Act, the BCRA. The bill is similar to the
House’s version, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), passed in May, but makes
deeper cuts and structural changes to Medicaid.
BCRA summary
Coverage
The BCRA eliminates both the employer and the individual mandate, while
allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance plan until
they are 26 years old.
Health insurance subsidies
Tax credits will be primarily based on age, income and geography and would be
made to cover a skimpier plan. People would also need to have lower income than
under the ACA to receive the tax credits. Cost-sharing subsidies provided to
insurers would end in 2020. Insurance companies are not allowed to increase
premiums or deny coverage based on preexisting conditions, though states may
allow them to not cover costs associated with some conditions. Insurers would
be able to charge older customers up to five times as much as younger
customers.
Medicaid funding
Medicaid would be funded by giving states a per capita amount, or block grant,
beginning in 2021. The funding amount would grow more slowly, meaning bigger
spending cuts overall. The BCRA allows expansion states, including Minnesota,
to continue getting federal funding through 2023, with reduced funding
beginning in 2021.
Essential health benefits
Like the ACA, the BCRA requires all insurers to offer 10 categories of
essential health benefits, like maternity care and mental health services. The
BCRA preserves the rule, but states could apply for a waiver and not have to
provide coverage.
MHA opposes the BCRA
MHA opposes the BCRA and will continue to advocate for preserving coverage for
those who have insurance now; meaningful insurance coverage for all
Minnesotans; coverage for all essential health care services; and for enhanced
public health insurance program payments to providers to cover costs associated
with caring for public program participants. MHA will continue to work with
Sens. Klobuchar and Franken to protect the interests of Minnesota’s hospitals
and the patients they serve, including federal funding for MinnesotaCare, as
the Senate considers the BCRA.
To share your concerns with our federal delegation, Minnesota’s Hospitals:
Strengthening Healthy Communities campaign has a tool that will connect you
with your member of Congress and the state’s U.S. Senators: http://mnhealthycommunities.org/tell-your-minnesota-representatives-protect-our-health-care/.
You can also sign up to receive hospital and health system community
information here: http://mnhealthycommunities.org/hospitals-take-action.
With questions, contact Ben Peltier, vice president of legal and
federal affairs, MHA, 651-603-3513. return to top
New Stratis Health MIPS Estimator
available
Stratis Health has developed a new Merit-based Incentive Payment
System (MIPS) Estimator for providers to assess how they will perform in the
Quality Payment Program (QPP). The estimator determines which measures and data
submission methods give the highest baseline MIPS composite score. Click here to download the MIPS Estimator prerelease
spreadsheet. Stratis Health plans to release in August an online application
that will aggregate group data once individual data is entered. With questions,
contact the QPP Help Desk. return to top
Next issue of Newsline will be
published July 10
Newsline will not appear on July 3 due to the
Independence Day holiday. The next issue of Newsline will be published on July
10. return to top