Reimbursement
A new study reveals that financial risk plays a role in underuse of hospice care in the United States.
Employee wellness plans can be great cost savers for both health insurance companies and employers in the long run, but with new proposed rules and regulations around wellness plans set to begin on Jan. 1, 2014, employers and insurers are going to have to be careful about following more legal requirements.
As more healthcare organizations plan to begin their transition to accountable care, it has become clear that there are a variety of factors that influence where they are ready for these changes.
Americans can shop online for pizza, hotel reservations and lots of other goods and services, so why not for medical procedures as well?
Healthcare providers are feeling the pressure to implement ICD-10 by the Oct. 1, 2014 deadline. With so much reimbursement money on the line, 65 percent of providers are looking to third-party consultants for help making the switch, said a recent report from healthcare market researcher KLAS.
In this week's HIX Digest: Tennessee Tea Party groups rally against a state-run HIX, the OPM proposes multi-state plan rules, New York aims for integrated eligibility systems and advocates wait for tobacco cessation coverage details.
Mark T. Bertolini, chairman, CEO and president of Aetna, delivered the opening keynote on Monday at the mHealth Summit. A former executive for Cigna, NYLCare Health Plans and SelectCare, he now oversees a global healthcare benefits company with some 33,000 employees in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Last week New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced a $3.1 million settlement with Excellus BlueCross BlueShield requiring the insurer to refund 12,000 plan members who overpaid their healthcare providers as a result of the company's improper accounting of deductibles.
Medicare Advantage (MA) HMO plans may be offering more efficient care than Medicare Part A and B plans, a study published in the journal Health Affairs has found. According to researchers, MA HMO enrollees have fewer hip and knee replacements and use fewer benefits for outpatient surgeries and procedures, inpatient stays and emergency department visits.
Despite the economic downturn, the number of uninsured children eligible for Medicaid and CHIP programs fell to 4.4 million in 2010, a 10 percent decrease from the 4.9 million who were uninsured in 2008, according to an analysis of government data released recently by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.