Healthcare Finance Staff

The state of Maryland is proposing significant changes to how its Medicaid system doles out cash to methadone treatment clinics. 

Saint Peter's sued Horizon over what it said was its wrongful exclusion.

The Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act, which was recently passed, will hold Medicare reimbursement rates steady for freestanding radiation oncology centers. Additionally, two providers listed as B3 stable, 21st Century Oncology and Vantage Oncology, will see their 2016 rates hold steady for 2017-18, according to a report from Moody's Investor Service.

Men are getting more screening colonoscopies since the health law reduced how much Medicare beneficiaries pay out of pocket for the preventive tests, a recent study found. The change, however, didn't affect women's rates.

UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Optum will buy the administrative support services for ProHealth Physicians, one of Connecticut's largest independent physician groups.

Two professional organizations representing emergency doctors warn that a new federal rule could lead to higher out-of-pocket costs for consumers when they need emergency care outside their health plan's network of providers. But consumer advocates and health policy experts say the groups' proposed solution doesn't adequately protect consumers.

Despite advice to shop around before selecting a plan, consumers may find that getting answers about drug coverage can be an exercise in frustration, despite a federal health law requirement that insurers provide lists of the prescription medications included in their plans.

As prescription drugs prices continue to drive up healthcare spending, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is creating a new online dashboard to increase transparency and address affordability.

Coloradans this fall will vote on a single-payer plan in which they would still pick their own providers, but the new system would pick up all the bills. There would be no deductibles, and fewer and smaller copays.

The House on Friday approved a $1.1 trillion spending bill that, with a tax package approved last week, includes changes to ObamaCare including another delay in the implementation of the Cadillac tax on high cost employer health plans.