Reimbursement

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will extend and expand a temporary moratorium on provider enrollment in six states meant to combat fraud, and at the same time, has created a new related demonstration project to allow for certain exceptions to the moratoria and heightened screening requirements for new providers, the agency announced Monday.

A report in 2012 by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse revealed that medical schools devoted little time to teaching addiction medicine -- only a few hours over four years. Since then, the number of Americans overdosing from prescribed opioids has surpassed 14,000 per year, quadrupling from 1999 to 2014.

CMS estimates that up to 5,000 primary care practices serving an estimated 3.5 million beneficiaries could participate in the model.

Hospitals cannot simply throw technology at the new payment model. Instead, thriving under MACRA will take leadership and analytical thinking, IT expert says.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a number of payment and policy changes last week, addressing Medicare inpatient rehabilitation facilities, hospice benefit and skilled nursing facilities.

CMS is also updating wage index values, which has seen some inpatient psychiatric facilities change status from rural to urban.

Their findings are important because, under the health law, services that the task force assigns an "A" or "B" grade must generally be covered by health plans, including Medicare, without charging consumers anything out of pocket.

With Medicare's specific approval, a health insurance company can enroll a member of its marketplace or other commercial plan into its Medicare Advantage coverage when that individual becomes eligible for Medicare.

Anxiety and suspense are building in Kentucky as a potential clash over the state's high-achieving Medicaid expansion nears next month between Gov. Matt Bevin and the Obama administration.

Though finances are a great motivator to integrate patient care and focus on quality and outcomes, said Glenn Hirsch, MD, associate professor of medicine and clinical director in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.