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Eligible for Medicaid not Medicare now...which is where the majority of medical expense lies. http://www.cms.gov/
Insurance companies are not thinking in terms of how they can cost effectively provide care to young healthy people having babies. They are trying to get their hands on as many of them as possible so as to offset the expense of providing care to elderly folks. It is a total big picture historical event related to all of us baby boomers. I don't think there is any danger whatsoever of HCA shuttering out the folks affliated with AHIP. Again, IMO no worries. If Matt is smart enough to be involved in all these international acquisitions and folding of cord blood companies in IL I don't think he would put all his eggs in the HCA basket. All IMHO
Booger you make me laugh with ur pics. Thank you!
OK thanks for the explanation. That makes sense. The problem is that everyone in healthcare has a solution to cut out the middleman. It is still America after all and health care not nationalized yet anyway. Whether it is the multisystem hospitals like Advocate in my state, the HMOs, the huge physician groups who negotiate big contracts with hospitals and other services...everyone has an angle. Part of the problem with HC reform is that the flooding of patients who will be covered under the new national insurance isn't available until 2014 or 2019...can't recall which but a really long time. The idea on the table is like a Sam's club or Walmart. Yes CMS will cut the reimbursement but hospitals will have volumes and volumes of patients to make up for it. Problem is CMS wants to put those reimbursement cuts into place right now. Organizations like AHA, AMA etc say OK..sounds good but uhhh how are we supposed to survive until then??? Did you know that a Pediatric Endocrinologist gets $16/initial visit to diagnose a child with Juvenile or Type I diabetes on Medicaid (in my state)? Who could conduct business with that type of pay structure?
I don't think that AHIP is trying to find a way to not pay IMO. I think they are going with the bigger lobby of AHA/AMA. Perhaps there are behind the scenes events. I don't believe that CBAI leadership would have such a narrow view that they would put all their cards in the HCA basket. To be involved in this type of business at all one has to be forward thinking and cognizant of the dynamics of health care. So all good, right?
I don't think AHIP is a middleman at all. I think it is more or less a lobbyist group that intends to influence health care policy. Not understanding your point about ILN.
I like your business plan STLX... I would tweak it to say that the free storage period would be six months and give folks the option to discard the placenta or "donate" to a public bank at birth. The model would be more of a public bank vs private. Some might say private bank with a hook. Why didn't we think of this when the Reinvestment and Recovery stimulus funds available???lol Great Public Health proposal. GLTU
I would view the AHIP info much differently but you probably won't like my observation. I checked out AHIP and believe they do have huge clout. It was interesting to read the list of 1300 insurance companies. Besides the life insurance folks...gimme a break this is health care....it is primarily BC/BS, CIGNA, United, and few more. They actually listed all the BC/BS entities per state and their subs, which was significant.
So let's just say this is BC/BS organization.As I'm sure you know insurance companies follow whatever policies CMS adopts, in terms of payment to Medicare/Medicaid. I understand that in the "negotiation" of getting buy in from AHA there was some promises about what would happen with a proposed Medicare cut a few months back. The cut was modified recently but not really that much to the hospitals benefit. It wouldn't surprise me if AHA/AMA stonewalling HC reform until they can have further impact on proposed Medicare reimbursement cuts.
So this is a very long way of me stating that AHIP probably doesn't want to be associated with HCA and Pharma (I said you wouldn't like it) as the big guns...AHA, AMA are silent despite a direct "beckoning" from our own VP. The word Clinton comes to mind in terms of not being able to get reform past certain point bcuz a lack of understanding about HC industry. Do you have different info?
Hey eric. thanks for asking me about r/s which is complimentary to me. I understand the health care business but not am expert on r/s and o/s and the like. I enjoyed the link and was unaware of the potential for other cord blood companies to "fold into" CBAI. I think that's huge. Thanks again.
Great pic. I continue to be bothered by this Pharma and HCA thing. Putting CBAI aside, I fear HC reform making a wrong turn with that statement. Wish I could think of a good parallel in the business world. Problem with HCA and it's credibility in the hospital industry is the perception of poor quality and tendency to think they can make money and cut corners while the rest of us poor suckers are trying to take good care of patients and develop a reputation on our patient outcomes.
Within the past year or two hospitals were mandated to report their outcomes in several key areas in order to receive CMS funding, Medicare reimbursement etc. Examples are Survival to discharge from heart attack, rate of readmission within xx days, Central Line Blood Stream Infection rates CLABSI. Things such as Patient Falls, Restraint use etc. also monitored. I tried to look for HCA Report Card, as it is known but couldn't find it last night. Will try later. Gov mandates Report Card be made public but they don't mandate it has to be easy to find. Good Report Cards easy to find like Johns Hopkins. Anyway, I would like to compare a few to HCA if I can find the darn thing. Later.
Good questions. I would like to know the answers to those questions myself. GLTU
hmmm Octoberfest in Germany??? I like it.
I lived in Wisconsin about 20 years ago,still in the health care field. Right or wrong people move there for their benevolent policies regarding Medicaid and support of women in the precarious position of being pregnant without a partner. All I am saying is that it is hard to make a broader judgement concerning health care policy because the state appears to be a mecca of goodwill for that cause. IMO
Good one ramirez. Hate for it to be lost in shuffle.
or "Chase What Matters" as in, chasing justice and a favorable settlement for all.
With all due respect Mr Long, I think HCA and Pharma are being used as "trade bait." No one else in the industry of any substance is biting. As I read your post, I can only say I expect this to get really ugly before it gets better. Not particularly in relation to CBAI, just the health care reform debate being played out. CBAI and others more or less an innocent bystander. AIMO
I agree mofnc. Stem cells can't be sold. They could be forfeited and released to another individual. Maybe over time, that model will exist. As you probably know blood banks do buy blood products such as plasma. For the most part, even basic Red Blood Cells are not purchased. Futuristic perhaps.
ML thanks for the update. Although I am pro this administration, I am disappointed that they reference the only people in the whole industry making money (Pharma and HCA) as jumping on board. Hellooo they are "for profit" entities and the only ones who COULD cut some costs. If you have a spare hour or two, let me tell you about all the Pharmaceutical industry has done in the past few years to save money and hurt patients.
Follow what American Hospital Association says. There is a state Hospital Association in every state too. That is the heart and soul of the industry. Even the AMA has more integrity than these two referenced health care entities. GLTU
I think it's all good potential revenue for CBAI but DNA testing is a total "psyche" thing for the expectant parents. As an administrator for a Neonatal ICU for many years, I see it everyday. Parents absolutely mourn over the loss of their anticipated experience of a perfect birth ie something goes wrong in the delivery room or during the pregnancy.
I'm not saying the concept is logical or anything...it just is what it is. When a woman becomes pregnant, she has a love affair with her unborn baby and all the future holds for the family. I know, I have 3 children myself. If a family has a baby in the NICU for more than a week, they adjust. For those parents who spend a few hours or few days with their baby in the NICU, the experience is devastating. Believe it or not the impact is more severe than having a baby in the NICU for several weeks. I tell you all this gobbly gook to help identify where the opportunity is IMO, which is not as a wellness or a preventative decision.
Just as the cord blood business went to the Obstetricians before they experienced any real success, I think DNA testing would find the earliest success with Maternal Fetal Medicine docs or physicians who specialize in perinatal medicine. The women seeking care from these physicians are high risk. They know their baby will have some problems and the goal would be to minimize the impact in any way possible. I'm not saying the MFM would be a "salesman". The physicians I have met in this specialty are some of the greatest in all of medicine in my experience. I think they are the target audience, however. AIMVHO of course.
I think this solution is reasonable. I don't know why the media always has to slant the negative. It's not like a patient would have access to this type of care without a "qualified clinical trial".
WASHINGTON -- Medicare patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) will receive coverage for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation only when participating in qualified clinical trials, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has ruled.
Great article. Thanks.
Hazelnut my fav!
Vanilla is a common term in the medical community. It probably does sound odd to others out of context. An example is the daily IV Total Parenteral Nutrition patient orders are written daily and mixed in a batch daily. Because of the sterile process, cost, and complexity of the procedure if the order for your patient misses the batch deadline that patient will receive Vanilla TPN or an established standardized concentration commonly used for TPN.
Let me know if you want to know any other useless medical lore. My husband used to laugh over some of the medical jargon. It does sound pretty crazy sometimes. He died a few years back with the unwavering hope that stem cell advances would cure some of his ailments, I might add. In fact, his family established a memorial fund for that purpose. OT I know.
Have a great weekend Mr. Long.
OK so I read the fine print. sorry. Not impressed only bcuz the bigger picture is where health care will end up at the end of the day, despite health care reform already in place. Not a particular criticism of HCA, just so many variables involved.
There have been a variety of owners over the years. Who are the latest ppl?
Yeah I do see it another way. HCA has been around for a long time. Everyone in Healthcare has their theory and HCA is all about hospitals being a business (as they are, maybe an idea before it's time about 20 years ago) Perhaps my views are colored by their Medicare fraud dealings... Check it out
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2003/June/03_civ_386.htm
Several years back so whatever, maybe times have changed for them. I go back to my original premise that HCA would be a great contract but not necessarily a vision for the future as a CBAI partner. Still good, I'll take it!
HCA is it going forward... do you see it any other way?
It sounds like your father was a wise person. GLTU
That is the most significant post of the day. Looks like Dodd is off his financial regulation kick and on to bigger and better things IMO. Thanks for the update.
No it is not all patients alike, of course. When you stop and think about it, how is a patient to respond with any sense of intelligence when being blasted with a diagnosis of breast cancer and striving to determine whether their heirs had BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene? Yet that is the line in the sand to determine the most effective treatment for individual patients. It is mind boggling, to say the least. In America we each need to decide what pathway is best for us, an incredible responsibility when making health care decisions.
So again, I think Matt is doing the right thing by creating the infrastructure. It just may be a few years until public perception catches up with available technology. All good IMO.
If I had not conversed directly with patients myself in a precarious situation, I would have agreed with you. Counterintuitive I think.
Since you asked, I like the HCA idea but not that particular partner. I have nothing against HCA but don't feel the organization is "vanilla" enough to win the cooperation of various health care organizations as partners. Since HCA is "for profit" that is an immediate turn off for many non profit entities trying to survive. Hospitals these days are both competitive and altruistic which means one must delve into health care psyche to understand. Hospitals will try to do the right thing for patients and at the same time preserve their dignity by working with neutral parties, whenever possible, to accomplish their goals. I believe I wrote a post several months back saying the Red Cross would be the number one pick as a partner for CBAI. You get the drift.
It is difficult to compare the healthcare system to Germany or Australia or anywhere else in the world, for that matter, because it is such a conundrum of free choice and FDA regulation and expense involved in doing the right thing for a patient...we are all guessing what the future holds as a medical community ourselves as well as a country.
I don't know Matt but I think he is doing the right thing by building the infrastructure for cordblood testing, private and public banking, DNA testing, and whatever else he can lay his hands on in this business. Sooner or later the US will combine their competitive business edge with the philosophy many international companies adopt regarding giving these poor sick patients a better chance to survive without so much regulation. (Did I mention the legal world? Next time I feel more energetic I will find the link that says 9/10 doctors will order tests that are not really necessary for fear of being sued. Not so outside the US.) Sooner or later the safety deployed within the US by the FDA will be cloned with the aggressiveness of many countries not bound by regulation and tort law to provide an ideal environment for a patient with a God awful disease. So to make a long story short, my philsophy is to buy, buy, buy. GLTA
Yes I would agree that the publicized reason for genetic testing is fear of insurance denial in the future. Shouldn't be a problem, in fact, with the language regarding pre existing conditions in HC reform legislation. Working with patients directly experiencing these conditions, I have learned the whole thought process runs a bit deeper than that. We all have been raised in an era which responds to whatever cards are dealt to us in our lives. The predetermination thing is eery to some but I believe we will all adjust to that notion over time. I say this in context of the stock bcuz it may not be a big attraction for patients at this time but still excellent to build into the portfolio for the future.
That's an interesting piece of information. What does it mean? As many may or may not know there is currently an oversupply of nurses in the USA right now as hospitals simply can't afford to hire the numbers of nurses they would like to as they are struggling to respond to patients not seeking health care until they reach the high deductible threshold set by insurance companies which affects their bottom line. Foreign doctors in the mix as wanna be nurses?? OMgoodness. Who do I write a letter to? LOL
HCA and BCBS contribute funds for the foreign doctors to become nurses in the USA at HCA's Florida Medical University. Heidelberg (HCA) is the German Medical School with a connection to German Red Cross and we have VITA 34 owned in part by BCBS. I think HCA and BCBS are together but need more info. Thoughts, too close to call?
Hey StLX. Great post. You have captured the motives of the Insurance companies correctly IMO, which is important in determining ROI. I agree with all that you said but understand that stem cell multiplication is the most difficult aspect of the entire science. Subtract a few dollars here and there, maybe, but still all good.
I have been puzzling myself about the diversification of CBAI into DNA testing. The medical community I am a part of is in a quandry about the type of DNA testing offered by CBAI. On the one hand, awesome technology available to the general public. The reality is that many people simply don't want to know what their future health care footprint looks like. There are so many genetic tests available to patients (often not covered by insurance companies, I might add) and patients more or less feel "spooked" at the possibility of looking in their futuristic mirror. Even genetic testing for patients diagnosed with breast cancer to determine most effective treatment, rattles a few (believe it or not). It seems to be a case of societal mindset catching up to available technology. So my question to you is simple, despite my babbling... What do you think of this new venture by CBAI?
It would be nice if that was the surprise but the reality is that when states mandate a test newborn screening, they generally don't do so until they have locked in a method to capture some of the spin down revenue. Times are tough, ya know and if it is mandated, medicaid & insurance companies have to pay.
Maybe this is also the prize Matt is going after:
State Mandated Screening
"Each state manages a metabolic screening program whereby it mandates the testing of certain disorders for all newborns. PerkinElmer Genetics is proud to provide state mandated testing for newborns in Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. In certain states other laboratories may also provide this testing."
Where do you find these pics???LMAO
The confusion/disagreement for me is the role of HCA. If you were speculating that HCA and CBAI developed a mega contract for their multiple hospitals, that would be awesome news. Simple yet effective. great news for investors. HCA is a chain of hospitals, many of them acquired by HCA when they get into financial trouble. HCA of course then makes it their business to pressure insurance companies for deep discounts. Creation of the types of partnerships you describe I do not believe is part of their core business. Could be something new but their general goal is to put the big squeeze on insurance companies and reduce costs/make money through provision of basic inpatient/OP hospital services.
All this other interplay between the variety of parties you mention seems a stretch and unrelated to HCA but would enjoy reading any related links. AIMHO
I think you may be correct in the judge not taking the full bait. She appears to be a judge who is methodical and thoughtful as in ...one step at a time...which is totally annoying as a commons shareholder. I can understand why attorneys tend to file motions based on a judge's particular style in making decisions...ie if she is only give me 50% of what I ask...let's go for 150%. So the bottom line will perhaps be somewhere in the middle, in terms of breadth of discovery. Regardless, we get closer to the truth everyday which I believe is why we are all here.
I somehow think though she may not; see my earlier post. To that if she doesn’t so what; she has given them every opportunity to provide the evidence to support their position and she may just put this on a very fast track. Provide the documents or die.
Nice post. JT.
ub if she is a fair and honest judge she is not on anyone's side. She is trying to sift out the truth, which we, of course, believe is on the side of a solvent bank being taken hostage for whatever reason.IMHO
Rockie, that's the highest compliment for a judge. To be middle of the road is the desired state for a judge and not be BIASED. I personally think the judge is well aware of all the bs thrown at her and still does the right thing by giving everyone an opportunity to put forth their transparent motions and letting the whole scenario play out. I think someone said awhile back her decisions were not often appealed which makes the whole front end more tedious, of course. AIMHO
HCA? As in the HCA that owns hospitals?
http://hcahealthcare.com/
Can't connect the dots personally. I could see how they would want to aggregate their cord blood services for their 1300 hospitals and develop strong contracts but don't see any evidence they would be a candidate to act as a clearinghouse, for lack of a better word, for insurance groups? Doesn't make sense but maybe I'm missing something.
PPS up almost 20% since recent share offering and still no one will talk to me???
Thanks for the info bimmer. I saw it as well. Angioneurotic edema (lot of people leave out the neurotic part but I believe it was an official name before Angioedema) such a rare disease that the treatment is undervalued. Like many things in medicine, I believe it could serve as a bridge to other discoveries related to treatment of allergic responses etc. IMHO wait for scientists to connect the dots.