Medicare & Medicaid
An $11.8 million federal diabetes prevention model tested at the YMCA saved Medicare about $2,650 for each person enrolled, enough to cover the cost of the program, according to an announcement Wednesday by Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell.
Montana's new Medicaid expansion just got its first progress report, and it is exceeding expectations.
The 31 states and District of Columbia that have expanded Medicaid are saving millions -- and in some cases, tens of millions -- compared to states that have not adopted the federal program, according to a report released Tuesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The National Quality Forum has published its guidance for the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System. NQF's Measure Applications Partnership examined some five-dozen MIPS performance measures, proposed for implementation in 2017, from which data would be collected to track eligible providers' performance in 2019.
The Maine Bureau of Insurance is closely monitoring Community Health Options, as the nation's only profitable co-op under the Affordable Care Act in 2014 posted a net loss of $74 million for 2015 and 2016 this month, according to information on the maine.gov website.
The percentage of drugs requiring coinsurance has climbed steadily, increasing from 35 percent in 2014 to 45 percent last year. That percentage is approaching two-thirds of all covered drugs.
Under a proposed rule, different methods would be tried in selected geographic areas over a five-year test period. Some of these experiments would begin this year, with others added in 2017. The proposal faces two months of public comment.
Over 300 healthcare and patient advocacy organizations sent a letter to Senate and House leaders on Thursday urging them to press the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to permanently withdraw a reduced Part B drug payment model from consideration.
While the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is touting the success -- 11 months ahead of schedule -- of tying 30 percent of fee-for-service Medicare payments to alternative payment models such as accountable care organizations and bundled payments, questions still remain over how much money value-based programs will save.
The House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee held a bipartisan debate Wednesday over the future of Medicare and planned cuts to the Medicare Advantage program as sharp party divides over healthcare continue to widen.