Policy and Legislation
Medicare officials will delay until 2014 enforcement of controversial new rules that define when hospital patients should receive observation care, rather than being admitted, a distinction that makes beneficiaries ineligible for follow-up nursing home coverage.
It looks to me like consumers will have a choice when they get to look at the health plans available on the new "Obamacare" health insurance exchanges - - rate shock or benefit shock.
A federal court judge dismissed a lawsuit Monday intended to eliminate the observation classification, or require hospitals to tell patients when they are under observation and then create a clear appeals process to challenge Medicare’s coverage decisions.
Lawyers for a radiology practice are asking a federal appeals court in Richmond to let them challenge Virginia's certificate of need law, after a district court dismissed a lawsuit brought against the Virginia Department of Health.
Many health systems lag on strategies to take advantage of new open enrollment on health insurance exchanges that could help offset declining revenues from fewer admissions and more care moving outside of the hospital.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule on Medicaid payments to disproportionate share hospitals last week, cutting approximately $1.1 billion from the program over the next two fiscal years.
The Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations to implement the ACA requirement that every individual have basic health insurance coverage, qualify for an exemption, or make a "shared responsibility" payment when filing a federal income tax return, beginning in 2014.
One area in which Congress has acted in a bipartisan manner is in crafting a permanent solution to the “doc fix,” the sustainable growth rate formula.
The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land and is undeniably changing the landscape of healthcare in the United States. It is forcing hospitals, physicians and payers to restructure the manner in which healthcare is delivered, services coordinated and costs more effectively managed.
National health spending will accelerate in 2014, as more individuals will be able to access health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.