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Feds 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.(Image...
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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.(Image credit:...
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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?(Image credit:...
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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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Canadians Root For An Underdog Health Policy Idea From The U.S.
A center created by the Affordable Care Act to foster innovations in health care is at risk in Donald Trump's U.S. But some Canadian health analysts see it as a model for curbing health care's...
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Medicare Advisers Recommend Payment Cuts To Many Free-Standing ERs
An agency that advises Congress recommends a 30 percent reduction in some federal reimbursements to free-standing ERs that are within 6 miles of a hospital.(Image credit: sshepard/Getty Images)
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Trump Drug Pricing 'Blueprint' Could Take Years To Build
The 39-page drug price plan includes an array of ideas that the administration will consider, but it's unclear which ones will be implemented.(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Medicaid Officials Target Home Health Aides' Union Dues
The Trump administration has proposed a rule that would prohibit some home health workers from having union dues deducted from their paychecks. The rule would likely undercut unions' power, all...
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Feds Urge States To Encourage Cheaper Health Plans Off Insurance Exchanges
The government suggests that insurers offer plans off the health law marketplaces that don't have surcharges added last year to make up for a cut in federal funding. (Image credit: PeopleImages/Getty...
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Fear Of Deportation Or Green Card Denial Deters Some Parents From Getting...
A Texas girl needs autism treatment, but her immigrant mother is afraid of turning to Medicaid. As more U.S. children go without health coverage, border watchers partly blame politics of...
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Utah Voters Approved Medicaid Expansion, But State Lawmakers Are Balking
Political fights over health care continue to flare. In Utah, angry voters say lawmakers are disregarding their wishes by trying to limit the scope of a ballot referendum that expanded Medicaid.(Image...
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Medicare's Uncapped Drug Costs Take A Big Bite From Already Tight Budgets
Unlike many private health plans, Medicare has no cap on out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs in Part D. As the cost of specialty drugs rises, some Medicare patients owe thousands of...
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Hospitals Chafe Under A Medicare Rule That Reduces Payments To Far-Flung Clinics
Hospital-owned clinics that are miles away should be reimbursed at the same rates as an independent doctor, but not more, Medicare says. That new rule could save taxpayers $380 million in 2019.(Image...
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Medicare Advantage Plans Overbill Taxpayers By Billions Annually, Records Show
The federal government wants to deploy several new tools for catching insurers that have overcharged Medicare $30 billion in the past three years alone. But the insurance industry is balking.(Image...
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Trump Team's Bid To Make Hospital Costs More Transparent Is Data-Heavy
The administration's rules would require hospitals to provide far more detail about the actual prices they charge insurers for medical care. Would patients welcome the data, or feel overwhelmed?(Image...
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Trump Team Hits Brakes On Law That Would Curb Unneeded Medicare CT Scans, MRIs
Critics worry the administration's delays come at a steep cost: Medicare is continuing to pay for millions of unnecessary exams and patients are being subjected to radiation for no medical...
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