Reimbursement

The study sought to measure whether having access to such a tool, and with it more price information, was associated with a reduction in annual outpatient spending in the first 12 months after the tool was introduced.

California's health insurance exchange estimates that its Obamacare premiums may rise 8 percent on average next year, which would end two consecutive years of more modest 4 percent increases.

Researchers found that the state mandates -- which apply to coverage available on the individual market and some group and employer plans -- led to about 12 percent more children getting some kind of treatment for autism. But when compared with the number believed to have the condition, it's not nearly enough, they say.

The cost of long-term, in-home care is greatly underestimated, says a new study from insurance holding company Genworth Financial. In fact, most Americans underestimate the cost by close to 50 percent.

In 2014, when Medicaid expansion and the health exchanges were implemented as provisions of the ACA, children's coverage soared over the previous year's numbers, according to the May study done by the Urban Institute with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is lifting former restrictions and will allow the struggling Affordable Care Act co-ops to obtain needed private capital.

Presenters will describe strategies around consumer engagement, provider contracting, and care coordination models tailored by population data, said Kevin Counihan, CEO of the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Medicaid managed care programs remains vulnerable to improper payments to providers, according to a recent Government Accountability Report to a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, since the information needed to screen providers for inclusion in the program is often fragmented and unavailable.

Just because it's hard to achieve a payer mix that better supports a health system's bottom line, it's not impossible.

A group of more than 2,000 physicians is calling for the creation of a publicly financed, single-payer national health program that would cover all Americans for all medically necessary care. The physicians voiced their support in a proposal published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health.