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NBA Player Robert Horry’s Healthcare Adventures Are Proof We Need Affordable Universal Coverage

Touching story on NBA great Robert Horry’s healthcare adventures with his daughter, who lived with a genetic disorder and died in her 18^th year.  It is a testament to why we need affordable universal access to healthcare.  Horry is now with a company promoting Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRA), which allows businesses to cover portions of healthcare premiums and allows employees to privately procure insurance (usually on the Exchange). To me, it is one of the few positive healthcare developments from the Trump administration.

#ichra #obamacare #aca #exchanges

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Change Cyberattack Could Open Americans Up To Multiple Notifications Of Breach

We don’t know yet if Change’s breach will be a record.  But based on the 6 terabyte report of compromise as well as the breadth of the Change system, it very well could be. United is reporting that it may be hard to tell who was impacted by the breach.  Further, because of Change’s tentacles in the market with providers and payers, it could be that people are notified multiple times from different providers and a payer that their data was impacted.  There could be hundreds of millions (even billions) of notifications.  This will cause mass confusion.

In other events, United seems to be complaining that some insurers and providers are slow to reconnect to Change systems, which is needed to get the flow of information and claims.  Some complain that they do not know yet if Change is secure.  They are testing and obtaining independent verification.  Also, some argue that reconnecting is difficult as certain systems are still down. Article here: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/cybersecurity/change-healthcare-update-unitedhealth-reconnect

This other article speaks to the continuing fallout and issues with systems, even those that have been restored.  Things are not business as usual: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/providers/change-healthcare-update-networks-issues

(Some articles may require a subscription.)

#changehealthcare #cyberattacks

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Improper Payments Huge In Federal Programs

A new Government Accountability Office analysis finds that the federal government made nearly $236 billion in improper payments in 2023. The payments were largely in Medicare, Medicaid, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness.

Medicare had the largest improper payments at $51.1 billion.  Medicaid had $50.3 billion.

GAO Report here: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106927

#fwa #medicare #medicaid

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