Policy and Legislation
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) granted $109 million Tuesday for states and the District of Columbia to fund reviews of health insurance rate hikes.
The thrust behind higher healthcare spending in the United States on primary care and orthopedics versus in other countries is higher physician fees says a new study published in Health Affairs earlier this month.
Health plans Aetna, Humana, Kaiser Permanente and United Healthcare will furnish de-identified claims data to new Health Care Cost Institute to analyze cost and use drivers.
President Obama's deficit reduction plan announced yesterday proposes to save $248 billion from Medicare and $72 billion from Medicaid, and other health programs hinged on legislative action fixing the Sustainable Growth Rate. Healthcare organizations say the proposed savings will be detrimental.
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.
CMS will use the claims and provider data to support policy activities and reimbursement for the Medicare Shared Savings and Pioneer ACO Model programs.
Medicare Advantage premiums will decrease by an average of 4 percent in 2012 and plans expect enrollment to increase by as much as 10 percent, according to an announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Thursday.
If the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposed changes to the Home Health Prospective Payment System go through, more than half of all home health agencies in the United States will face negative Medicare financial margins, says the National Association for Home Care & Hospice.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Thursday awards totaling $10 million to aid 129 organizations across the country that want to become community health centers.
At a White House meeting yesterday, Vice President Biden announced new initiatives aimed at tackling government spending waste, including one to fight waste in Medicaid that could save taxpayers more than $2 billion.