Practice Management
A record 24 million people have signed up for insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. However, some observers are questioning the future trend, as the tax credits that provided financial help to millions of enrollees will expire at the end of this year unless Congress passes a new law to extend them. The enhanced subsidies came from the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and were extended by the Inflation Reduction Act of …
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Urgent Message: With STI rates rising, urgent care centers have a unique opportunity to address a pressing public health need and increase patient volumes and revenue by adding STI testing services. Citation: Ayers A. The Urgent Need for STI Testing in Urgent Care Centers. J Urgent Care Med. 2024; 18(10)39-42 Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are acquired every day.1 …
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UnitedHealth Group thought it was a great idea at the time: offer no-cost primary and behavioral care, in the hope that the company would bring in enough money through claims, while also building a loyal customer base. Detractors may say it was a nonstarter, or that the notion had merit but was poorly designed; some may even point the finger at the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare). Either way, the company is shutting down …
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Aetna has apparently had enough of trying in vain to make participation in Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare) exchanges profitable, and will exit all ACA exchanges for the 2018 coverage year. They follow a long line of insurers who already checked out, complaining that the ACA program simply made it impossible to conduct business, economically. Aetna announced their plans right after revealing that they’d drastically reduce their exchange business for the 2017 coverage year, …
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A lot of Republicans are angry that their elected officials have failed, thus far, to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) with something more to their liking. There may be an equal number of Democrats railing about the prospect of Congress doing exactly that. Senators and Congresspersons can expect to get an earful from both over the 2-week spring recess. Healthcare providers are likely to make their wishes known, too. Some legislators have …
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Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. have opted not to fight the decision a judge laid down to block their proposed merger based on the presumption that the $34 billion deal would violate antitrust laws. The two companies will continue to operate as separate entities, though the door is still open for either or both to seek other partners. Had the deal gone through, Aetna would have become a kingpin in Medicare Advantage. The implications for …
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As you’ve read here, the spectrum of business models accessible to urgent care operators is constantly expanding. “Direct care,” in which patients pay a monthly fee for a range of basic services, is one that may appeal to operators and clinicians desiring a less-structured approach to running their business—such as getting insurance companies “out of the room,” as explained by Linnea Meyer, MD in an article published in The Wall Street Journal recently. Patients pay …
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The Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) has given millions of citizens access to healthcare they didn’t have before, driving up volume in some urgent care centers and emergency rooms. It’s also put sometimes unbearable pressure on insurers to find a way to stay profitable in the state-run exchanges; most that originally participated have bowed out because they were losing too much money, in fact. With the election of Donald Trump as our next president, …
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Patients whose health is insured under marketplaces created via the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka “Obamacare”) have become acutely cost conscious when it comes to their own care—to the extent that they may not be getting the care they need, according to a new survey. While that paints a picture of a dysfunctional system, urgent care may be reaping some rewards as patients seek out quality care that won’t cost them as much as a …
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William Rodney, MD couldn’t jump fast enough when he found out the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) would be raising Medicaid primary care payments to Medicare levels. His urgent care practice (featured here previously; see One Year In, Latino-focused Clinic Doubles in Size) took in enough additional fees to create an outreach clinic for bilingual uninsured patients and to provide x-rays, ultrasound, and other services for underserved communities in Tennessee. Now he’s worried about …
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