Becker's Hospital Review

21 CFO / FINANCE Novant ends prompt-pay discounts at North Carolina health system By Alia Paavola N ew Hanover Regional Medical Center, which became part of Novant Health Feb. 1, will no longer offer patients a prompt-pay discount, according to lo- cal news station WECT. Wilmington, N.C.-based New Hanover Regional offered a 25 percent discount to patients who paid before a visit or at the time of service. New Hanover Regional said that it discontinued the discounts after aligning itself with Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health, but said it had been considering removing it for a while. "As part of aligning our financial policies and procedures [with Novant Health], NHRMC is sunsetting the prompt pay discount," New Hanover spokesperson Ju- lian March told WECT. "The vast majority of those who used it had insurance. Ap- plying a prompt pay discount for patients with insurance is very rare in the health- care industry, and NHRMC had already been considering removing it." A Novant Health spokesperson told Becker's Hospital Review it honored the prompt-pay discount for patients who received an estimate for services scheduled before Feb. 1. Additionally, New Hanover patients will benefit from Novant's more robust finan- cial assistance program, the Novant spokesperson said. The financial assistance program provides free or discounted care to uninsured patients who have a household income of up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. "Moving forward, NHRMC patients will benefit from Novant Health's robust charity care and financial assistance program, which is one of the most generous in North Carolina. This policy is a cornerstone of Novant Health's culture and is an essential element in allowing us to provide remarkable healthcare to all members of our communities, regardless of their ability to pay," Novant said. n Centene to cut workforce by 3,000 By Morgan Haefner C entene is restructuring its organization, a change that will eliminate thousands of jobs, CEO Michael Neidorff told investors during a Feb. 9 call. The restructuring will reduce Cen- tene's workforce by 3,000 employ- ees. The health insurer will also eliminate 1,500 open positions. In total, the changes will affect about 6 percent of Centene's workforce. The job cuts will affect areas where Centene has "significant over- lap" from acquisitions, as well as where there are "opportunities to leverage our size and scale for increased efficiency," Mr. Neidorff said. The announcement was made in the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. Centene ended the fourth quarter of 2020 with a $12 million loss. n Hospitals ask Supreme Court to reverse payment cuts in 2 cases By Ayla Ellison T he American Hospital Association, oth- er trade groups and individual hospitals filed petitions Feb. 10 asking the U.S. Su- preme Court to reverse appeals court decisions in two cases revolving around outpatient pay- ment cuts to hospitals. One lawsuit hospitals are asking the Supreme Court to hear challenges HHS' payment reduc- tions in 2019 for certain outpatient off-campus provider-based departments. Under the 2019 Medicare Outpatient Prospec- tive Payment System final rule, CMS made pay- ments for clinic visits site-neutral by reducing the payment rate for evaluation and manage- ment services provided at off-campus provid- er-based departments by 60 percent. In an attempt to overturn the rule, the AHA, the Association of American Medical Colleges and dozens of hospitals sued HHS. ey argued CMS exceeded its authority when it finalized the payment cut in the OPPS rule. HHS argued that under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, it has authority to develop a method for controlling unnecessary increases in outpa- tient department services. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer rejected that argument and set aside the regulation implementing the rate reduction in September 2019. HHS filed an ap- peal in the case, and the appellate court reversed the lower court's decision July 17. e second lawsuit hospitals are asking the Su- preme Court to hear challenges HHS' nearly 30 percent cut to 2018 and 2019 outpatient drug payments for certain hospitals participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. A district court sided with hospitals and found the payment reductions were unlawful. Two members of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned that ruling in July. e hospitals argue in both petitions that the Su- preme Court should review the cases because of the "excessive deference" the appeals court gave to HHS' interpretation of the respective gov- erning statutes. n

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