Diana Manos

Despite a bitter partisan battle over federal spending, Congress has passed a six-month $16.1 billion extension to federal matching funds for Medicaid.

The cost of U.S. healthcare spending has become one of the most hotly debated issues of our time. Each side is constantly looking for proof that their solution to the healthcare crisis will keep costs down, yet neither side has a tried and true method.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced that average 2011 Medicare prescription drug plan premiums will remain similar to rates paid by beneficiaries this year.

A survey of large employers found they are anticipating an 8.9 percent increase in the cost of health insurance next year, up from an average 7 percent this year. As a result, employers said they are planning to make changes to their 2011 healthcare benefit programs.

Forty health systems have joined the Premier healthcare alliance's Accountable Care Organization Readiness Collaborative, which will help health systems prepare to become ACOs.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General is recommending that the federal government crack down on physicians who have incorrectly coded their Medicare claims for the wrong place of service.

St. Vincent's HealthCare in Jacksonville, Fla., has announced it will help the city's major employers set up onsite health centers.

Despite a bitter partisan battle over federal spending, Congress has passed a six-month, $16.1 billion extension to federal matching funds for Medicaid.

Congress will consider changing how hospitals are paid under the meaningful use rule, allowing each hospital in a multi-hospital campus to earn incentives.

A study released Monday by Thomson Reuters found that church-owned health systems demonstrate significantly better, more efficient care than for-profit health systems.