Tuesday Political Mix: Obamacare Official In The Batter's Box
The 2014 mid-term elections right now look like they could be a battle over the shutdown and Obamacare... a federal judge stopped parts of a Texas abortion law that would have decreased access to the...
View ArticleCongress Poised To Permanently Fix Its Medicare Payment Glitch
After a decade of kicking the ball down the road, Congress appears ready to repeal its payment formula for Medicare and replace it with a whole new system. This time, doctors would be paid according to...
View ArticleMedicare Looks To Speed Up Pay For Quality Instead Of Volume
The administration wants to tie more of Medicare's spending on health care to quality and to encourage doctors and hospitals to be more frugal in their spending.
View ArticleHow Medicare Advantage Investors Profited From Loose Government Lips
When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent a memo to insurers saying government audit policies could be relaxed, investors privy to the news pounced, sending shares upward.
View ArticleLax Auditing Encouraged Overcharging By Medicare Advantage Plans
Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley says the federal government has to "get it right" and pursue full refunds for overpayments to companies that offer Medicare Advantage health insurance.
View ArticleMedicare Looks To Cut Drug Costs By Changing How It Pays Doctors
The agency plans to reduce the incentive for doctors to use the most expensive drugs and link prices to patient outcomes, perhaps paying less when patients have to be admitted to a hospital.
View ArticleFeds Want To Speed Up Medicare Appeals, But Backlog Will Still Last Years
A Department of Health and Human Services proposal and an increase in funding could reduce the backlog in appeals of denied Medicare claims by 2021, six years sooner than without the changes.
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Nursing Home Group Sues U.S. Government Over New Lawsuit Rule
The American Health Care Association is seeking to overturn a rule that protects the right of patients and their families to sue nursing homes in court. The rule is set to go into effect Nov. 28.
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Court Blocks New Nursing Home Rule From Taking Effect
Companies sued the federal government over a new rule protecting the right of patients and their families to sue nursing home companies. It was supposed to go into effect in November.
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Obamacare's Test Kitchen For Payment Experiments Faces An Uncertain Future
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation has explored payment changes that could cut health care costs and improve quality. But will the center survive in a new administration?
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The Future Of Medicaid May Be Found In Indiana, Where The Poor Pay
Seema Verma, the architect of Indiana's Medicaid overhaul, is slated to run the federal agency overseeing the health care program for the poor. She instated mandatory payments from recipients.(Image...
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Indiana's Claims About Its Medicaid Experiment Don't All Check Out
Indiana's health program for low-income people is experimental, and needs federal approval to continue. The state says its program is working, but some claims lack much-needed context.(Image credit:...
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Secret Data On Hospital Inspections May Soon Become Public
The federal government wants to require that private accreditors release reports of problems they find during hospital inspections. Right now, the reports are kept confidential.(Image credit:...
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What The Man Who Ran Obamacare Thinks About The Republican Health Care Plan
Andy Slavitt was acting administrator of the the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services until January. He calls the new Senate health care bill "the ugly step-sibling" of the House bill.(Image...
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Tuesday Political Mix: Obamacare Official In The Batter's Box
The 2014 mid-term elections right now look like they could be a battle over the shutdown and Obamacare... a federal judge stopped parts of a Texas abortion law that would have decreased access to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Congress Poised To Permanently Fix Its Medicare Payment Glitch
After a decade of kicking the ball down the road, Congress appears ready to repeal its payment formula for Medicare and replace it with a whole new system. This time, doctors would be paid according to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Medicare Looks To Speed Up Pay For Quality Instead Of Volume
The administration wants to tie more of Medicare's spending on health care to quality and to encourage doctors and hospitals to be more frugal in their spending.(Image credit: ImageZoo/Corbis)
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Medicare Advantage Investors Profited From Loose Government Lips
When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent a memo to insurers saying government audit policies could be relaxed, investors privy to the news pounced, sending shares upward.(Image credit:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lax Auditing Encouraged Overcharging By Medicare Advantage Plans
Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley says the federal government has to "get it right" and pursue full refunds for overpayments to companies that offer Medicare Advantage health insurance.(Image credit: Steven...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Medicare Looks To Cut Drug Costs By Changing How It Pays Doctors
The agency plans to reduce the incentive for doctors to use the most expensive drugs and link prices to patient outcomes, perhaps paying less when patients have to be admitted to a hospital.(Image...
View Article