Chris Anderson
Results of a new national survey conducted by Medicare Today and KRC Research shows that 9 in 10 seniors are satisfied with Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, up from 78 percent satisfaction when the program was first launched.
Blue Shield of California and health technology integrator NantHealth announced Tuesday they will co-develop a clinic-based "continuous learning center" (CLC) that will leverage supercomputing systems, high-speed, secure-fiber networks and fact-based genomic data systems, which will allow Blue Shield's ACO partners to provide personalized, molecular-based medicine.
West Penn Allegheny Health System announced last Friday that it is canceling the $475 million affiliation agreement with Highmark Inc. over demands by the region's dominant insurer that the health system enter bankruptcy proceedings in order to move forward with the deal.
Amid emerging evidence that some hospitals may be using electronic health records (EHRs) to "game the system" by either cloning or "upcoding" claims, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sent a warning letter Monday to the CEOs of five hospital associations that such activity will not be tolerated.
A recent report from industry consulting firm Accenture entitled, "Healthcare M&A rethink: Why are payers on the hunt for providers?" shows there has been a dramatic shift in the kinds of acquisitions completed by healthcare payers in the wake of healthcare reform.
Per capita healthcare spending for people with employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) increased 4.6 percent in 2011, an acceleration of the 3.8 percent increased reported for 2010, according to a new report released today by the Health Care Cost Institute.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Tuesday that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are projected to increase enrollment by 11 percent in 2013 and that average premium prices will remain unchanged. The news follows last month's announcement that Medicare Part D prescription drug plan premiums would also hold steady.
Health Care Services Corp., the largest customer-owned health insurer in the country with more than 13 million members, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana announced they would be aligning in a deal that is expected to provide the Montana Blue with added operational efficiencies.
An Office of Management and Budget (OMB) report released last week that showed sequestration would cause an $11 billion cut to Medicare and looming cuts to physician reimbursements under the sustainable growth rate formula (SGR) has physicians groups saying the cuts would eviscerate their ability to provide quality care.
Consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) were offered by 58 percent of employers in 2011, making them the second most popular health benefits option for the first time, according to an Aon Hewitt survey of more than 2,000 employers.