Reimbursement

Taking a cue from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, UnitedHealthcare has launched its own Blue Button program, enabling its plan participants to access and print their personal health records (PHRs) with the click of a mouse.

Despite a decline in the number of commercially insured children, healthcare spending on children grew at a faster rate than healthcare spending on adults from 2007 to 2010, according to a new report from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI).

Healthcare organizations that were previously sitting along the sidelines when it came to healthcare reform are going to have to get the ball rolling now that the Supreme Court has made the ruling to uphold the 2010 healthcare law, according to a report published Friday by the PwC Health Research Institute (HRI).

On the heels of the Supreme Court ruling that upholds the health reform law, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced June 29 new funding to help states continue their work to build health insurance exchanges as specified under the Affordable Care Act.

Federal enforcers are preparing to audit healthcare organizations for how well they establish and follow privacy and security practices and data breach notification standards.

In upholding the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court did provide a setback to the Obama Administration by ruling that while the federal government can expand the Medicaid program, it cannot withhold funds from states that choose not to participate in the expansion.

With the nation on the edge of its seat June 28, the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional for all Americans to obtain health insurance or face penalties. And with the remaining sections of the ACA staying in place, healthcare reform was deemed to be in full swing, resulting in another victory for the Obama administration.

So the Supreme Court ruling -- finally -- has been handed down and the verdict is out: Chief Justice Roberts' hand pulled the ACA to shore.

The U.S. Department of Treasury late last week proposed regulations aimed at aiding patients gain access to financial assistance at charitable hospitals while also providing protection to patients from overly aggressive payment collection in the ER.

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) believes a private-public partnership would be better to run the future Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN), rather than a federal body alone.