Reimbursement
Eleven states have received $1.5 billion more in grants from the Health and Human Services Department to support their creation of health insurance exchanges, which must be ready in October for enrollment season.
As healthcare providers brace themselves for big changes to reimbursement models, many are taking a conservative approach to their capital budgets. As a result, capital spending in 2013 will likely be flat or slightly down compared to 2012, predict experts at several healthcare group purchasing organizations.
Uwe Reinhardt had a post the other day at The New York Times economics blog comparing Medicare with Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. He basically sifts through the evidence on which is less costly: Medicare (a public plan) or the private MA plans. But while his column is definitely worth reading, it does not go far enough.
The most eagerly awaited -- if not anxiety-laden -- set of regulations in the healthcare spectrum arrived late Thursday: HHS issued modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules.
Highmark Inc., West Penn Allegheny Health System and a selected number of West Penn bondholders announced on Wednesday they had reached a financial settlement that would allow for a reduction in the debt load of the WPAHS and allow the proposed merger of Highmark and ailing health system to proceed.
Ahead of oral arguments over pharmaceutical patent settlements in the Supreme Court, a Federal Trade Commission report has found that 2012 saw a record 40 "reverse payment" settlements between branded and generic pharmaceutical companies, up from 28 the year before.
Universal American Corp. announced Friday that its subsidiary, Collaborative Health Systems (CHS), has partnered with 15 additional groups of physicians to form accountable care organizations (ACOs), approved to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
Across the country, hospices with generous admissions policies may find themselves on life support. Medicare, which heavily funds hospice programs, is cracking down on the industry's growing habit of embracing those whose deaths aren't imminent.
A proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released January 14, outlines further details about the standards and systems for states' health insurance exchanges, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP).
On Tuesday, Maine Gov. Paul LePage announced at a press conference a plan to repay Maine hospitals the $186 million owed to them by the state for patients covered by Medicaid.