Medicare & Medicaid

Health plans earning at least four stars qualify for federal bonus payments. Those that don't, lose out.

The Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment Program has as its goal to reduce avoidable hospital use by 25 percent over the next five years.

Republican governor supports expansion, has been in talks with Obama administration.

The rule finalizes provisions to help consumers with surprise out-of-network costs at in-network facilities.

Republican Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has announced expanded Medicaid coverage for eligible residents in his state through a program he is calling Medicaid modernization.

CMS instead wants to establish set payment amounts, indicating the bid process lacks competition, and therefore, price incentives.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday that federal officials have approved most of his requested changes to the state's Medicaid expansion program and urged the legislature to continue it.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday released proposed changes for the Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug programs for 2017, including an increase in the net payment rate for Medicare Advantage of 1.35 percent, CMS said.

Medicare beneficiaries who live in urban areas may save money on their prescription drugs this year because they have better access to pharmacies in drug plan networks that charge lower copayments or coinsurance, according to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The state last week won federal approval to shift most of its Medicaid recipients into managed care organizations, which are paid a fixed monthly fee from the state for each person in the plan. It's a strategy employed by about three dozen states, many for decades, to provide more predictable spending.