Regulatory barriers that once thwarted any pressure felt by hospitals and health systems to consolidate and uncover economies of scale or scope have eased. But consolidation doesn't always come via an acquisition.

I emailed a handful of North Texas hospital executives to get their take on a federal advisory panel's recommendation that Congress cut payments to hospitals for services that can be provided less expensively in doctors' offices. It turned out to be a lively debate. Joel Allison, president & CEO of Dallas-based Baylor Health Care System said patients get the best value when they're treated in the most appropriate venue. "Depending on a patient's condition, a hospital which by design has greater capabilities may be more appropriate than a physician's office for certain services," Allison said in reply to my email. "To ensure that hospitals can continue to provide appropriate care to patients in the right setting, they need to be adequately reimbursed."

Few uninsured people have heard more than a little about ObamaCare's new health insurance marketplaces, highlighting the task facing the Obama administration as it seek to sell the law to this group.

According to a new poll, only about one in 10 uninsured people have heard "some" or "a lot" about the exchanges, which will begin signing up participants in October.

Another third say they've heard "only a little" about the new opportunity for healthcare coverage. Half say they've heard nothing at all. The survey was released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) criticized President Obama for launching a “campaign-style P.R. blitz” to explain the healthcare reform law to the public.

“Americans still don’t like the idea of Obamacare. Not because they’re unable to understand, or because they just haven’t ‘seen the right messaging,’” McConnell said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “It’s because they just don’t think the law is going to work as promised.”

A government report says it remains to be seen whether the administration will be ready on Oct. 1.