Policy and Legislation
Everyone following national economic policy news knows the basics: the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, authorized by August’s Budget Control Act, must create a plan to reduce the national deficit by at least $1.2 trillion. This plan must be in place by Nov. 23, and we all expect Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement to be hit hard.
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is proposing to fix the Sustainable Growth Rate by sharing the cost of repealing the SGR among physicians, other health professionals, providers in other sectors and beneficiaries. The response from those in the industry has been less than supportive.
A recently released report form the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found more than 170,000 instances of so-called 'doctor shopping' of 14 commonly abused prescription medications by Medicare Part D beneficiaries.
Three of the nation's largest for-profit home health companies are "gaming" Medicare, concluded a report released Monday by the Senate Finance Committee. The report accuses Amedisys, LHC Group and Gentiva of intentionally increasing the number of their home health visits in order to plump their profits.
Commercial plans paid $2.1 million and Medicaid paid $900,000 toward state's Multi-Payer PCMH Program's first biannual transformation payment.
Consumers' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare services inched up in September, hitting a score of 98 on the Thomson Reuters Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index, up one point from August.
Emergency physicians in Washington state have filed a lawsuit against a state plan to limit payment for Medicaid visits to three "non-emergency" visits to emergency departments each year. The plan would also classify more than 700 diagnoses as "non-emergent," including chest pain, abdominal pain, miscarriage and breathing problems.
In an effort to enhance the quality and coordination of healthcare services through the patient-centered medical home, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) granted $32 million to 904 health centers nationwide on Thursday.
Our nation's healthcare system is large, complicated and ever changing. And within the next few years, states will take up the challenge of rolling out their own insurance exchanges.
Monday September 26 was the last day on which the Obama administration could ask the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its three-judge panel’s ruling that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate was unconstitutional.