Hospital System Mergers and Their Impact on Patients and Physicians

Derek F. Papp, MD; Louis F. McIntyre, MD

Certainly two of the bigger stories this past year regarding healthcare costs and availability involved the impending insurance company merger between Aetna and Humana and Anthem's purchase of Cigna. These mergers would reduce the number of major insurance providers in the United States from five to three—and, in certain areas of the country, would decrease available options from two to one. This seems at odds with the country's goal of decreasing healthcare costs.

Second Look – Advocacy

These items originally appeared in AAOS Headline News Now, a thrice-weekly enewsletter that keeps AAOS members up to date on clinical, socioeconomic, and political issues, with links to more detailed information. Subscribe at www.aaos.org/news/news.

CMS Releases MACRA/Quality Payment Program Final Rule

Elizabeth Fassbender; Shreyasi Deb

On Friday, Oct. 14, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for the Medicare Quality Payment Program, which implements the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) and replaces the sustainable growth rate formula. The Quality Payment Program has two tracks for payment: the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and the Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs) (Fig. 1).

Republican Sweep Portends Changes for Health Care

Elizabeth Fassbender, Catherine Boudreaux, Stacie Monroe; Manthan Bhatt

In an unexpected sweep of the executive and legislative races, Republicans not only clinched the White House but also retained control of both the House and Senate. Although Donald Trump proved to be a polarizing nominee, exit polls showed that 9 out of 10 Republicans voted for him. Wins in states such as Michigan and Wisconsin enabled Mr. Trump to earn more than the 270 electoral votes (Fig. 1) required to secure the presidency.