Policy and Legislation
A bipartisan group of senators is questioning the legality of physician-owned distributors (PODs). The group, lead by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), sent letters late last week to CMS and HHS asking for an investigation into the legality of PODs.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance is seeking public comment on the development of standards and measures for an optional patient-centered medical home recognition in patient experiences.
A growing number of medical professionals are signing up to accept TRICARE, the healthcare plan for members of the uniformed services, retirees and their families, according to the Department of Defense.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on Wednesday it will extend the deadline for accountable care organizations that want to apply to be Pioneer ACO models. CMS officials said they are
looking for advanced ACO programs to lead the way for ACO development nationwide.
The State of Michigan is the latest entity to sue San Francisco-based prescription drug wholesaler McKesson Corp., for allegedly artificially inflating prices for certain brand name and generic drugs.
In a turnaround from earlier this year when it requested rate increases of more than 59 percent for some policy holders, Blue Shield of California announced yesterday it would limit its net income to no more than 2 percent of revenue.
It seems that Medicare’s focus on reducing readmissions to hospitals is stimulating renewed attention to hospital discharge planning and communications.
Atlanta-based Gentiva Health Services, one of the country's largest providers of home health services, has agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle claims that it fraudulently billed Medicare for costs related to company sales efforts, announced the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn.
The U.S. healthcare sector continued to expand even as the rest of the economy struggled, with employment increasing in May by approximately 17,400 positions.
State policymakers have more options than they may realize under the Affordable Care Act in how they create health insurance exchanges, according to a new white paper from the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.