Reimbursement

Hospitals hiring physicians as employees and primary care physicians receiving financial incentives for patients who do well are among the 2010 healthcare trends cited in a new industry report from staffing firm Jackson & Coker.

Insurers have drawn the ire of government officials by announcing that the new health care law would force them to raise premiums. "I want health insurance companies to be transparent and honest when increasing premiums," Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., declared.  

A new nationwide poll shows that 65 percent of Americans would oppose further cuts to funding for long term care.

Paul LePage, Maine's new Republican governor, has submitted a supplemental budget to the Legislature that includes paying back nearly $250 million owed to hospitals for overdue Medicaid charges.

Paul LePage, Maine's new Republican governor, has submitted a supplemental budget to the Legislature that includes paying back nearly $250 million owed to hospitals for overdue Medicaid charges. "It's purely a very fiscally responsible budget," LePage said during a Thursday press conference releasing the budget. "It addresses fiscal responsibility, saving jobs in healthcare and simplifying the tax codes."

The Kansas Academy of Family Physicians (KAFP) has launched a patient centered medical home initiative involving eight practices, which will run over the next three years.

A new study indicates Medicaid programs in states across the country underfunded nursing facility care by $5.6 billion in 2010, paying on average $7.17 per hour per patient, less than the nation's current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

In comments submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Long Term Care Pharmacy Alliance expressed concerns that a proposed rule for Medicare Part C and Part D plans for short-cycle dispensing of medications in long-term care settings would cost money, not save it as intended.

Patients are finding it hard to research their primary care doctors, according to a new survey, which finds that they're currently often making a choice about a PCP based on location, or what they find on their insurance company's website.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded CGI Federal Inc., a wholly-owned U.S. operating subsidiary of CGI Group, a competitive, five-year task order worth $55 million.