Policy and Legislation
Healthcare is top of mind for U.S. voters, with worries ranging from the fate of the Affordable Care Act to the out-of-pocket burden patients face in seeking medical care, according to a Kaiser Health Tracking Poll that examined the role of healthcare issues in the presidential election.
Proposed regulations released last week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are raising concerns that the playing field is uneven, with 87 percent of solo practitioners getting penalized and 81 percent of clinicians in large groups earning bonuses, according to some estimates.
In the 2017 open enrollment period, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will pilot a program on Healthcare.gov to pair results of a 5-star care rating with health plans on the federal marketplace.
Administration officials moved Thursday to improve low Medicaid enrollment for emerging prisoners, urging states to start signups before release and expand eligibility to thousands of former inmates in halfway houses near the end of their sentences.
The criticism of the drug company's price increases are valid, said new board member William Ackman.
The California Medical Association is opting in to a legal battle currently being waged by the ACLU of Northern California against Dignity Health, one of the largest health systems in the country.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has made public a "lightly redacted" copy of the letter it sent to beleaguered blood-testing company Theranos on March 18, with newly revealed allegations that its proprietary testing devices often failed to meet the company's own accuracy requirements for certain tests -- in one instance, failing to accurately detect prostate cancer.
The results come as Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has repeatedly derided the law for including too many concessions to the private healthcare industry and costing consumers too much.
The more flexible Quality Payment Program for physicians is aimed at reducing the reporting burden and offers financial incentives.
For the first time, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is adding Medicare claims data submitted by hospitals to quality measures posted on its consumer-based website, Nursing Home Compare.