The Huntington News October 31, 2019
The independent student newspaper of the Northeastern community
@HuntNewsNU
ALINA MUELLER: SKATING FROM THE OLYMPICS TO NORTHEASTERN By Kelly Chan | News Correspondent A two-time Olympian — who was the youngest medalist in the 2014 Sochi Olympics and deemed “Best Forward” in 2018 at PyeongChang — currently walks the halls of Northeastern University as a sophomore, taking on the next hockey season. Alina Mueller, a 21-year-old native of Winterthur, Switzerland, has established herself as a notable playmaker in women’s hockey. From playing for the Swiss national team to last year’s season as a Husky, she has racked up numerous awards and honors, including CCM/AHCA Second Team All-American and a Top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, granted to the best female college hockey player in the country. However, above all her individual accomplishments, she values the team dynamics of the sport as well as the physical and mental skills that hockey entails. “I love that it’s a team sport. I just like to share wins and losses, build something in a group and achieve goals together,” she said. “I also like that it’s a fast game. I like that you need to be able to skate fast, you need to be coordinated, you have to be an athlete and you have to use your mind.” By the winter leading up to the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Mueller had successfully made the Swiss national team, which changed the course of her life as she developed fame and recognition on a global level. While she had her own concerns about her eligibility to play due to her age, she thrived throughout the OLYMPIAN, on Page 6
ALINA MUELLER AWARDS 18-19 • Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top-10 Finalist • CCM/AHCA Second Team All-American • Second Team All-USCHO • First Team Hockey East All-Star • Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Year in Hockey East Photo courtesy Northeastern Athletic Communications
Massachusetts adults who had any problem with healthcare affordability
35.0%
By Maya Homan News Correspondent
65.0%
Sought mental health or substance use disorders care 45.4%
54.6%
Had a problem with health care affordibility Did not have problem with health care affordibility
Baker’s proposed healthcare bill highlights primary care
Did not seek mental health or substance use disorders care 31.4% 68.6%
Graphic by Avery Bleichfeld Source: Blue Cross Massachusetts Foundation 2018 Massachusetts Health Reform Survey
A proposed bill seeks to reform the healthcare system in Massachusetts by forcing providers to invest more money into primary care and behavioral health and regulating healthcare companies to ensure their prices are fair to consumers. However, critics worry the bill overlooks the complexity of the current healthcare system. The H.4134 bill was introduced earlier this month by Gov. Charlie Baker. It includes initiatives to reduce healthcare costs and physician wait times. If it passes, hospitals, physician groups and insurance companies would be required to increase
primary care and behavioral health spending by 30 percent by 2023 without increasing their overall costs. The bill also restricts the use of certain hospital billing practices that can add thousands of dollars onto a patient’s medical bill. For example, many providers charge facility fees for patients who are treated at a clinic the doctor doesn’t own, such as a hospital. These bills can range from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars and are not covered by most insurance companies. While H.4134 does not ban facility fees altogether, it does require that providers do more to inform their patients about the fees by posting signage and providing cost estimates before admitting and treating
patients. The bill also bans surprise fees altogether, forcing providers and insurers to cut down spending in other areas to meet the new requirements. Providers will be required to submit annual progress reports and state regulators will implement an “improvement plan” for those who fail to meet the new standards. “For the most part, national payors, including Medicare, use payment policies that favor technology and transactional medicine at the expense of primary care, mental and behavioral health and addiction services,” Baker said in a statement to the Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives. “This makes any decision to deviate from that model HEALTHCARE, on Page 8