Becker's Hospital Review

8 CFO / FINANCE 'Birthday rule' leaves parents with $270K hospital bill By Katie Adams A little-known rule that stipulates a child born with double health insurance eligibility must be enrolled in the plan belonging to the parent whose birthday comes first in the calendar year can induce expensive bills for parents who are unaware of it, according to a Jan. 27 NPR report. This regulation, known as the "birthday rule," was established by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and adopted by most states, according to Lee Modesitt, the Kansas Insurance Depart- ment's director of government affairs. The birthday rule determines which insurance will be primary for the child and which will be secondary, but premiums, deductibles and networks often vary greatly between each parent's insurance plan, so parents don't always have the option to make the more comprehen- sive plan their child's primary insurance. This rule resulted in new parents Kayla and Mikkel Kjelshus receiving a bill from HCA Overland Park (Kan.) Regional Medical Center total- ing $270,951. The charge included $207,455 for a neonatal intensive care unit stay. After negotiating with insurers to pay the balance and getting in touch with the hospital, the bill was changed to a zero balance. "We made an administrative error and an automated billing call system for payment occurred, causing the family undue frustration during an already stressful time, and we apologize," the hospital wrote in a statement to NPR. "Once the issue was identified and resolved, the insurance companies processed the claim and we in- formed the family that there is a zero balance on the account. Again, we are sorry for the stress and inconvenience, and wish them well." n Billionaire buys SpaceX flight to raise $200M for St. Jude By Ayla Ellison B illionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is chartering a rocket and spacecraft from SpaceX with the goal of raising at least $200 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., according to The New York Times. Mr. Isaacman, founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, will command the "Inspiration4" mission, slated to launch in October. One of the four seats in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule will go to Hayley Arceneaux, a 29-year-old physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and pediatric cancer survivor. The remaining two seats are still available. One seat will go to a mem- ber of the public who enters for a chance to join the flight. The other seat will go to an entrepreneur who uses the Shift4Shop e-commerce platform to submit their idea and be selected by a panel of judges. n Baylor Scott & White Health to cut, outsource 1,700 jobs By Alia Paavola D allas-based Baylor Scott & White Health will outsource, lay off or retrain 1,700 em- ployees who work in information tech- nology, billing, revenue cycle management and other support services, e Dallas Morning News reported Jan. 27. e health system said outsourcing the finance and IT jobs and other support services will help it im- prove efficiencies and focus on reducing costs in non-core business areas. About two-thirds of the 1,700 employees will be joining third-party RCM, IT, billing or support staff vendors. About 600 to 650 positions will be eliminated. Baylor Scott & White said that employees whose positions are being eliminated will be invited to participate in retraining programs. e retraining program would allow the employ- ees to remain employed at the health system and receive the same pay or higher, depending on their role, according to the report. Some of the retrain- ing programs that will be available are learning to become a certified medical assistant or learning a job in patient support services. "In no case — in no case — is anyone going to miss a paycheck," Baylor Scott & White CEO Jim Hin- ton told e Dallas Morning News. "We can afford to make these commitments, and we want to do the right thing for the great employees of Baylor, Scott & White. ey've really done everything we've asked and more during this last year." is marks the third time Baylor Scott & White announced cost-cutting initiatives related to its workforce since the pandemic began. Last May, 930 Baylor Scott & White employees were laid off, and in December the health system said it would lay off employees and outsource 102 corporate finance jobs. Mr. Hinton said that Baylor Scott & White has 2,000 clinical positions open, and it is investing in a new regional medical school campus and a joint venture to improve care for the underinsured. "is is a transition to a new business model, a transition to a new way of working," Mr. Hinton told e Dallas Morning News. n

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