The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (TheCRE.com) has analyzed a study published in Health Affairs which asserts that health insurance companies have insufficient leverage when negotiating with healthcare providers. The study has been discussed in Forbes and other major publications.
CRE concludes that the said study violates the Data Quality Act (DQA) and therefore cannot be used by any federal agency. In that the designation as being DQA-non compliant virtually renders the said study useless, CRE is inviting members of the public to review the study attached below and comment on its findings using the Leave a Reply function below.
CRE has advised the US Federal Trade Commission of its findings in the attached letter.
Is this Data Act for real? Where can I find out more about it?
The Data Quality Act (DQA) discussed in the CRE study is very real, it is found in Section 515 of Public Law 106-554. OMB’s government-wide guidelines implementing the law are found here, http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/fedreg/reproducible2.pdf.
A Washington Post article discussing the significance of the DQA from a regulatory perspective is found here, http://thecre.com/post/.
Many community based hospitals are on the financial ropes. Without a merger with a larger institution we may be history. However many of our suitors worry that the costs associated with a potential challenge from the FTC is not worth it. Do you expect the FTC to reply to the CRE letter?
Why not have your organization ask the FTC about their response plans?
See this post for your further involvement in the issue:
http://thecre.com/hcf/2013/09/17/what-impact-will-the-cre-report-on-hospital-consolidation-have-on-ftc-operations/