WH

According to the Miami Herald in 12.30.14 post:

More than 670,000 Floridians have signed up for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act for 2015, the most of any state using the federal marketplace, And 94 percent of Florida enrollees will receive financial aid from the government.

WIM

The U.S. Supreme Court will be deciding on King v. Burwell later this year. If the Court sides with conservatives, over 600,000 Floridians enrolled in Obamacare will lose their tax credit (ACA subsidy).

See related story from CNN HERE.

WH

Kelly Gooch, in a December 29 post on Becker's Hospital CFO, reports:

The U.S. could spend nearly $1 billion less on healthcare over a decade if the number of emergency surgeries for several conditions were reduced by 10 percent, according to a recent study published in the Annals of Surgery.

WIM

Even a modest reduction in the proportion of emergent procedures for 3 conditions is estimated to save nearly $1 billion over 10 years. Preventing emergency surgery through improved care coordination and screening offers a tremendous opportunity to save lives and decrease costs. 

WH

According to Melanie Evans in a December 30 post on Modern Healthcare:

National pharmacy chain Walgreen Co. has exited two Medicare accountable care organizations, the second publicly traded company this year to scale back its investment in the closely watched Obamacare initiative that seeks to curb U.S. healthcare spending...

Walgreen launched three ACOs in 2013 but has now exited the Advocare Walgreens Well Network, which was formed with New Jersey physicians, and the Scott & White Healthcare Walgreens Well Network in Texas. The exit was first reported by Atlantic Information Services' ACO Business News.

The Advocare ACO included more than 13,400 Medicare patients in 2013 and failed to hold down spending that year...

WIM 

Walgreen found the Medicare accountable care program "less conducive" to efforts that include medication therapy management and analysis because "providers feel restricted to only provide services where Medicare will directly reimburse."

CMS officials have proposed new rules for more than 200 ACOs that will be up for renewal starting in January 2016, in an effort to persuade them to remain in the Medicare Shared Savings Program.