Policy and Legislation
Acting Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Andy Slavitt on Tuesday shocked many in healthcare when he laid out an aggressive timeline to replace the meaningful use program, a electronic health records mandate and incentive program that healthcare providers put millions into.
Fifty-five hospitals have filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Health and Human Services over Medicare's 0.2 percent cut in payment for inpatient stays that went into effect January 1 under the two-midnight rule, according to lawyers at Foley & Lardner in Washington, D.C., who filed the lawsuit on Friday.
The meaningful use program is on the cusp of major changes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt said late Monday, adding that 2016 would likely see the end of the program altogether.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday announced the 21 health systems that are participating in the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization model, some having defected from the controversial Pioneer ACO program.
A last-minute proposal to replace a controversial tax on health plans allowed California Gov. Jerry Brown to avoid deep health and social service cuts in his preliminary state budget for 2016-2017, released Thursday.
Doctors, providers and other stakeholders have until Monday to submit comment on new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain.
A group of researchers from the University of Michigan have found that, Medicaid expansion nationally under the Affordable Care Act significantly reduced uninsured hospital stays in 2014, the latest in a slew of reports to suggest the reforms have resulted in fewer numbers of uninsured.
Republicans will try to override the expected veto later this month, but House Speaker Paul Ryan admitted they do not have the votes to do so.
Beginning in January, family caregivers like Matsushima could have a much different experience. A new California law, SB 675, requires hospital staffers to involve a family caregiver during the hospitalization and discharge process, which supporters say will improve patients' overall health and reduce their chances of readmission.
The Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights said it will change the rules so that mental health providers can share data with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, part of a slate of executive actions President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced to help curtail gun violence.