Medicare & Medicaid

Expansion to help offset over $100 million a year state hospitals cover in charity care costs.

New policies giving states more freedom in program design are expected to reduce the rolls of those currently covered under Medicaid.

Overall, Medicaid insurers in the Golden State made $5.4 billion in profits from 2014 to 2016, in part because the state paid higher rates during the inaugural years of the nation's Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

Billing data from Medicare and private insurance billing nationwide shows spending on urine screens and related genetic tests quadrupled from 2011 to 2014 to an estimated $8.5 billion a year

Michigan's Value Partnership program focuses on procedural care, which accounts for more than 50 percent of national healthcare expenses, authors said.

Program, which covers 8 million children, has garnered largely bipartisan support since it took effect in 1997.

But changes to the safety and clinical care domains will come in 2019, so preparation is key.

New Mexico hospital leans on Zoeticx tech to bridge the gap between medical quality and patient care.

The agency is also announcing the immediate approval of both New Jersey and Utah's demonstration waivers under the new policy.

In 2016, the total national spending on pay-for-quality hit $354.5 billion.