Rule could open homecare to Medicare beneficiaries
Many Medicare beneficiaries will be able to receive care in their homes rather than an institutional setting, thanks to a proposed rule recently published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Under the new rule, states will be able to set their own eligibility or needs-based criteria for providing HCBS. The DRA provision eliminates the previous requirement of imminent risk of institutionalization and allows states to cover Medicaid recipients who have incomes no greater than 150 percent of the federal poverty level, or $15,600 per individual in 2008, and who satisfy the needs-based criteria.
Study: doctors support national health insurance
A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine reports that 59 percent of U.S. physicians support the idea of national health insurance. The study is the second conducted by Indiana University since 2002 and is based on a 2007 nationwide survey of 2,193 physicians. Since 2002, physicians supporting a single-payer healthcare system have increased 10 percent.
Fla. radiologist to pay back $7 Million in fraud case
Board-certified radiologist Fred Steinberg, MD, along with his imaging centers and related entities in Palm Beach County, Fla., will pay $7 million to the government to settle charges of healthcare fraud. According to the Justice Department, some CT scans were not performed even though the full procedures were billed for and information passed along to physicians. Government investigators said Steinberg and his associates billed thousands of procedures to federal healthcare programs, including Medicare, and performed CT scans and ultrasounds not ordered by physicians and medically unnecessary.
Consumers still hesitant to use CDHPs, study shows
A new study indicates consumers are slow to adopt consumer-directed health plans, although supporters claim interest will grow. CDHPs are typically comprised of high-deductible health plans coupled with health savings accounts. The recent release of a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change found some stakeholders believe CDHPs will take hold as a way to contain healthcare costs by transferring more responsibility to beneficiaries. National surveys show CDHPs are being offered by a growing number of employers, with 5 percent of employees selecting these plans.