[DallasNews] The city of Fort Worth health plan, which serves nearly 14,000 employees, dependents and retirees, is projected to be $4.8 million under budget for fiscal 2018.From January through June, spending in emergency rooms dropped 34 percent. Visits to the ER declined sharply, in network and out. Much of the credit goes to a new approach that bets heavily on the value of primary care.
Not sure how that related to Affordable Obamacare.
Three health clinics were opened exclusively for city workers and their families, and five other satellite clinics were added to the mix. Members who see a doctor in those facilities ‐ and wait times are less than five minutes, officials said ‐ don’t have to pony up a co-payment or deductible.
That’s right: Office visits are free, as are about 40 of the most common prescriptions.
If the nearby clinics aren’t convenient, members can call a doctor line for a consultation. So-called virtual visits (via smartphone, computer or landline) are also free for those enrolled in the city’s health center plan.
Sounds like O-Care to me. Not.
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) encourage providers to form networks to better coordinate care. They share electronic records, try to eliminate duplicate tests and work with case managers and others to help patients stick with their regimen.
They resemble HMOs except that members are allowed to go outside the preferred network. They just have to pay more ‐ at least $60 for an office visit in Fort Worth’s plan.
But they can keep their Doctor?
ACOs have grown rapidly, starting with Medicare patients and expanding into the commercial market. But many experts were disappointed with the savings in the early years.
The government said ACOs increased Medicare spending by $344 million from 2013 to 2015.
That'd be the ObamaStudy.
But more recent studies, which use a different analysis, reported significant savings from the program ‐ more than half a billion dollars over the same period.
The city wanted employees to get in the habit of going to the clinics first ‐ and paying nothing for a visit.
By early October, the clinics had received almost 9,500 visits. Next year, Fort Worth expects the health plan's costs to come in almost $4 million below budget ‐ with no changes to employee co-pays, deductibles or premiums.
"It's working out wonderfully," Dickerson said.