Policy and Legislation
The ballot proposal would have created a floor and ceiling for commercial payment rates.
Leaders from the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce said healthcare providers need more time.
The bill would require insurers to reimburse out-of-network doctors and health providers at the same rate as what they pay in-network providers.
The industry association calls on CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt to focus on the key issues of data sharing and interoperability and to reduce the need for multiple reports from IT systems.
Six new standardized plan designs will eliminate many of the moving parts that have bedeviled consumers trying to make apples-to-apples comparisons between plans.
Healthcare affordability, the future of Medicare on top of mind as voters weigh healthcare issues ahead of the November election.
In the fall issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Ophthalmologist Kristin S. Held writes MACRA is not a step forward, but is "a more elaborate system of price controls."
American Hospital Association is urging HHS to take measures to stabilize the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces, saying some insurers' decisions to exit put consumers' access at risk.
The money will help states improve data collection and analysis to better understand how to prevent opioid abuse, curb deaths and treat addiction.
Legislation also would require the nation's first minimum nurse-to patient staffing ratios in observation care units.