Policy and Legislation
In an effort to take the first steps toward a more transparent pricing structure in the U.S. healthcare market, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday published nationwide hospital charge data showing wide variations in how much Medicare pays for services in different markets.
Conventional wisdom is that cutting Medicare rates shifts the burden to the private sector, but an intriguing article in Health Affairs reaches a counterintuitive conclusion.
The healthcare industry is on notice: Fraud recoveries in the healthcare sector are on the rise and whistle-blowers are the biggest weapon in the fight against fraud.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) withdrew on Tuesday his hold that has blocked the nomination of Marilyn Tavenner as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, allowing a Senate vote to proceed.
On April 10, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) published parallel proposed rules revising, respectively, the Stark exception and Anti-Kickback safe harbor concerning electronic health record (EHR) items and services.
Getting uninsured Americans covered by insurance is not just a goal of the federal government's. It has also become a goal of the American Hospital Association's and at its annual membership meeting in April, a panel discussion focused on how to reach that goal.
Every week, I get an email from the Maryland Health Connection --- the state run health insurance exchange.
Nearly 18 months in the making and with more twists and turns than a Formula 1 race track, Highmark and West Penn Allegheny Health System received conditional approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance to move forward with its affiliation and plans to create an integrated delivery network.
A new report from the Brookings Institution offers a framework for person-centered care that provides sustainable lowered costs and promotes higher quality care.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed late Friday its fiscal 2014 Medicare payment schedule. Included in the proposal are payment cuts to hospitals that treat uninsured individuals and slightly higher rates for acute care and long-term care hospitals. The proposal also prepares the groundwork for a program that imposes a penalty on facilities that lag on reducing the frequency of hospital-acquired conditions.