Policy and Legislation
Statistics released by CMS demonstrate that it is difficult to significantly lower spending and achieve shared savings, even for voluntary early adopters who are keen on healthcare reforms.
The Congressional Budget Office has raised the specter that reform to the Medicare physician fee schedule statutory update formula could increase the likelihood that the ACA's Independent Payment Advisory Board mechanism would be triggered potentially resulting in as much as $0.6 billion in Medicare provider cuts.
The increasing incidence of chronic diseases, aging populations, emphasis on diagnosis and disease monitoring and more advanced testing technologies and practices are driving increased use of clinical lab services.
Yesterday the American Hospital Association, four regional hospital associations and four health systems launched a federal court challenge to the controversial two-midnight inpatient admissions policy established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Healthcare Finance News talked to Debra Miller, director of health policy for the Council of State Governments, about the top five health policy issues states are focused on in 2014.
Reimbursing a physician for their time spent in having end-of-life discussions is not an incentive for a "death panel" decision; it would be compensating them for doing their job. If all we do is compensate physicians for treating people aggressively regardless of the circumstances, we will get what we pay for: an expensive healthcare system run amok.
In a reversal of 30 years' past practice, Medicare may start to disclose what it pays individual physicians for its services to seniors.
This week, CMS released a proposed rule that would make significant revisions to the Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug program regulations. The agency estimates that the rule changes would reduce Medicare spending by $1.3 billion between 2015 and 2019.
Maryland officials have reached what analysts say is an unprecedented deal to limit medical spending and abandon decades of expensively paying hospitals for each extra procedure they perform. If the plan works, Maryland hospitals will be financially rewarded for keeping people out of the hospital.
When discussing solutions to the problem of primary care shortages, nurse practitioners and physician assistants are top of mind. A law that took effect the first of the year in California is putting the spotlight on another option: pharmacists.