Policy and Legislation

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has formally established the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is requesting stakeholders - particularly physicians - to give their two cents on accountable care organizations.

American businesses spend a lot of time complaining about overregulation, but with the passage of the Affordable Care Act now some eight months in the past, it's the lack of regulations that is becoming a problem.

A pilot matching one of New Hampshire's largest insurance companies and its largest healthcare provider could pave the way for the creation of an accountable care organization.

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are supposed to control costs and improve quality under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Everyone seems to be maneuvering toward creating or participating in an ACO, even if no one is quite sure what exactly they will be.

A survey of more than 2,800 employers indicates most are unlikely to drop their employer-sponsored health plans under new insurance requirements that take affect in 2014.

Healthcare reform will emphasize the medical home model, but the nation may not have enough primary care doctors to handle the workload, according to a study by the University of Michigan Health System.

Appalachian Regional Healthcare officials have announced plans to sue the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and its Bureau for Medical Services over allegedly inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates.

Healthcare reform ain’t pretty and it ain’t cheap. (Of course, neither was America’s healthcare system before the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but that’s not the point). Someone has to pay for the new law and there’s a host of fees, taxes and the like to foot the bill.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has updated the star plan ratings for 2011 Medicare health and drug plans.