Reimbursement

Enrollment in consumer-directed health plans grew by 22 percent in 2010, according to a study commissioned by the American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations.

The Commander of the American Legion is urging Congress to pass a bill that would allow military veterans to pay for non-combat-related medical care received at VA hospitals with their Medicare coverage.

Compensation for medical directors varies widely across specialties, with the lowest reported by internists and pediatricians at $7,500, according to the Medical Group Management Association's "Medical Directorship and On-Call Compensation Survey: 2011 Report Based on 2010 Data."

At a Bipartisan Policy Center panel discussion on Tuesday, newly-appointed National Coordinator Farzad Mostashari, MD, was optimistic – but also warned of challenges for healthcare IT advancement in the coming few years.

Two former U.S. senators, one a Republican, the other a Democrat, do not have to cross the aisle to work together.

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to use its authority to waive what the ATA calls the "restriction-riddled" Medicare telemedicine statute for the new Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).

The Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH) announced Monday that it has launched a transition committee to make recommendations about multi-stakeholder governance of its Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange (CORE) initiative.

The U.S Justice Department has broadened its probe of Community Health Systems' outpatient billing practices, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a proposed rule that would update Medicare payment policies and rates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities in fiscal year 2012. The rule would increase payment rates under the IRF Prospective Payment System by a projected 1.5 percent — an estimated $120 million nationwide.

More than 600 people descended on the New Hampshire Statehouse to protest Medicaid cuts. A public hearing on the budget cuts drew public comments that stretched for more than 6 hours from people objecting to a list of cuts to Medicaid including in-home support services, mental health grants and bloc grants to the state's 13 largest hospitals.