Policy and Legislation
By now, it is no surprise which states have said they won’t expand Medicaid as outlined under the Affordable Care Act. And while there are still a handful of states on the fence, it’s a given that states like Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia, among others, were not going to budge.
Among the least popular decisions handed down by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in recent years, it’s hard to top the rule requiring hospitals to rein in readmission rates or suffer the financial consequences. As most CFOs are painfully aware, those consequences include substantial reductions in reimbursements.
With no comprehensive program designed to provide long-term care insurance, a panel of experts who convened in March agreed that comprehensive reform has about a five-year window for implementation in order to sufficiently meet the needs of baby boomers.
President Barack Obama's fiscal 2014 budget includes a variety of what he says are "manageable" changes for Medicare's 54 million beneficiaries as well as for the hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare providers that serve them.
As President Barack Obama takes his budget and deficit-reduction proposals to Congress and the public, the Department of Health and Human Services has unveiled its proposed budget for the 2014 fiscal year.
Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, received accolades from both sides of the aisle at a hearing on Tuesday to confirm her nomination. Senate Finance Committee leaders indicated a decision would come soon.
The Senate Finance Committee is meeting this morning to consider President Barack Obama's nomination of Marilyn B. Tavenner for administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) on Friday debated how to change the payment method for chronically critically ill patients in acute care and long-term care hospitals so they are more accurate and based on patient needs.
Consumer directed health plans (CDHPs) that offer low premiums and high deductibles have long been touted as a way to encourage consumers to shop for the best healthcare prices since more of their money is at stake. But that assumption may not be true according to new research from the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and the RAND Corp.
A new report from the Urban Institute shows that the financial burden of out-of-pocket medical costs vary widely from state to state -- and regionally -- and offers a first-of-its-kind look at which state's residents could most benefit from Medicaid expansion.