Policy and Legislation
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.
Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) Inc., the parent company of Parkridge Medical Center in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Physician Services, has agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Justice $16.5 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act and the Stark Statute in 2007.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder wants to bring Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan under the same laws regulating other insure by forcing it to become a mutual insurance company effectively stripping it of its tax exemptions.
Organizations are beginning to recognize the importance of value-based purchasing. One industry expert offers three strategies for getting started immediately and making the most of this new payment model.