Policy and Legislation
The Medicare Strike Force unsealed indictments against 91 people in seven different cities who are accused of fraudulent billing to Medicare to the tune of $429.2 million.
Nonprofit health provider and insurance organization HealthPartners and Park Nicollet Health Care announced in late August they would combine operations in a move that would create the second largest healthcare system in Minnesota and one that also operates a 1.5 million-member strong health plan.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and nonprofit health system Banner Health have announced an equal partnership designed to provide a coordinated Medicare Advantage plan to be known as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Advantage.
Results of a new national survey conducted by Medicare Today and KRC Research shows that 9 in 10 seniors are satisfied with Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, up from 78 percent satisfaction when the program was first launched.
The number of Medicare Advantage plans being offered is expected to increase by 7 percent over the next year, from 2,430 currently to 2,600 in 2013, according to a report from Avalere Health.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has discovered errors in its initial calculations in August. As a result, 1,422 hospitals with comparatively high readmission rates will lose slightly more money than they were expecting, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of the revised penalties. Fifty-five hospitals will lose less than were previously told.
A skilled nursing facility in California was found to have engaged in unfair labor practices and has been ordered to rectify those practices.
How to get more medical students interested in primary care careers has been much discussed due to the primary care physician shortage and the spotlight the Affordable Care Act has placed on primary care. A new study provides insight into understanding what drives medical students away from careers in primary care.
Amid emerging evidence that some hospitals may be using electronic health records (EHRs) to "game the system" by either cloning or "upcoding" claims, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sent a warning letter Monday to the CEOs of five hospital associations that such activity will not be tolerated.
Per capita healthcare spending for people with employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) increased 4.6 percent in 2011, an acceleration of the 3.8 percent increased reported for 2010, according to a new report released today by the Health Care Cost Institute.