Reimbursement

The nation's largest nursing home rehabilitation therapy provider RehabCare, which is now part of Kindred Healthcare of Louisville, Kentucky, has settled with the government for $125 million over allegations they falsely inflated therapy reimbursement claims to Medicare. Four other skilled nursing home rehab facilities also settled in connection with those claims, bringing the total to a little more than $133 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday announced the 21 health systems that are participating in the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization model, some having defected from the controversial Pioneer ACO program.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center was surprisingly not among the list of 21 health systems joining the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization model released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday.

For decades, if someone on Medicaid wanted to get treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, they almost always had to rely solely on money from state and local sources. Now the federal government is considering chipping in, too. The agency that governs Medicaid is proposing to cover 15 days of inpatient rehab per month for anyone enrolled in a Medicaid managed care plan, but critics say 15 days isn't long enough.

Investors are gathering in San Francisco this week for the annual J.P. Morgan healthcare conference, the sector's biggest financial event and one where many biotech deals are expected to be announced.

From Dec. 27 to Jan. 2, 83,297 consumers made plan selections, according to CMS.

Standard & Poor's has warned Anthem, Cigna and Aetna that the substantial debt needed to finance the proposed mergers between them may cause their credit ratings to fall.

Standard & Poor's has warned Anthem, Cigna, Aetna and Humana that the substantial debt needed to finance the proposed mergers between them may cause their credit ratings to fall.

Aetna will leave America's Health Insurance Plans, becoming the second major insurer to leave the industry's largest trade group, according to a statement from the insurer.

Aetna will leave America's Health Insurance Plans, becoming the second major insurer to leave the industry's largest trade group, according to a statement from the insurer.