Reimbursement
Marshfield Clinic Health System and Contessa Health have formed a new partnership to operate a home hospitalization program in Wisconsin.
Generic drug price hikes have come under close scrutiny lately, as reports continue to surface of significant and seemingly inexplicable increases, often for widely used drugs like levothyroxine or digoxin, a heart medicine, whose out-of-pocket costs to consumers have been modest for years.
New mandatory bundled payments for cardiac care and rehabilitation will qualify for incentive payments under MACRA's new alternative payment model starting in 2018, according to CMS.
In a continuing dialog with providers on MACRA, Andy Slavitt addressed the American Osteopathic Association at their annual meeting Friday, once again hinting at a possible delay in implementation so that providers, especially smaller practices, have time to prepare.
The U.S. Department of Defense on Thursday cut out former Tricare West Region contractor UnitedHealthcare and has given the contract to Health Net Federal Services, which also manages the Tricare North Region.
S&P Global Ratings has placed Aetna and Humana on creditwatch following the Department of Justice's announcement Thursday to block their merger.
Government says the ratings, which will award between one and five stars to each hospital, will be more useful to consumers than its current mishmash of more than 100 individual metrics, many of which deal with technical matters. The hospital industry, however, fears the ratings will be misleading and oversimplify the many types of care at the institutions.
Nineteen states have yet to expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, and a new study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows just how much enrollment would increase if they did: 7.8 to 8.8 million, while the number of uninsured would decline between 4.1 and 5 million, the research found.
Anthem and Aetna plan to pursue in court the Department of Justice's injunction to block their respective mergers with Cigna and Humana, according to statements from both insurers.
Official says one of the best ways physicians can prepare for MACRA is to sift through the list of 90 activities laid out in the rule.