Reimbursement

An analysis of the patient-centered medical home program at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan shows it has saved an estimated $155 million from prevented claims over its first three years through June 2011.

Some Milton Friedman-esque critics of U.S. healthcare policy have long suggested that low-income people would be better off with insurance vouchers rather than Medicaid -- and now that approach is actually getting a chance.

Geographic variations in Medicare medical treatment costs can differ among episodes of care for certain conditions and not only across but within regions, according to a new study from the Center for Studying Health System Change.

A federal appeals court has ruled that California cannot limit dental, podiatry, optometry and other health services for Medicaid beneficiaries treated at certain federally-funded providers -- based on definitions by Medicare.

Molina Healthcare of New Mexico is assuming a Medicaid managed care contract from Lovelace Community Health Plans, after the health system-owned insurer lost a bid to participate in the state's new Medicaid program.

A recent report from the Urban Institute highlighted the different roles that states have taken in development of health insurance exchanges where the federal government is heavily involved in operating them.

Fifty-five hospitals located in 21 states will pay a total of $34 million to settle allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare for a spinal procedure that often can be performed on an outpatient basis without the need of costly hospital admissions.

The Obama administration announced late Tuesday that it has delayed until 2015 the healthcare reform law's requirement that businesses with more than 50 employees offer insurance, bending to criticism that requirements were burdensome and complex.

Less than 100 days are left before insurance exchanges go live, the Department of Health and Human Services is awarding $32 million in state grants to help find and enroll children in Medicaid and CHIP.

There is no doubt that social media has fundamentally changed the patient to patient and patient to provider communications relationship for the healthcare industry. The advent of transparent, real time social media communications platforms that allow open and honest dialogue presents a wealth of opportunities for the industry to capitalize on positive patient sentiment and build a trusted support community to actively engage with.