Policy and Legislation

Acting CMS administrator Marilyn Tavenner and other healthcare leaders discuss how the industry is dealing with the practical issues of establishing ACOs at the Third National Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Summit in Washington, D.C., June 6-8.

A new analysis released in the May issue of Health Affairs attempts to change the direction of the contentious debate around a perceived bias by the committee that advises the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the relative value of physician services.

Health insurer Florida Blue has teamed up with Miami-area providers Baptist Health South Florida and American Medical Specialties (AMS) to launch an accountable care organization (ACO) that will focus only on oncology treatment.

Within a handful of miles of the birthplace of the American Revolution, a new revolution was being fomented the last week of April.

Between 2011 and 2021, national health spending is projected to grow at an average rate of 5.7 percent annually, according to projections set forth in a study done by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' National Health Expenditure Accounts Team and published in the July issue of Health Affairs.

With the Supreme Court expected to make a ruling within the next two weeks on key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, UnitedHealthcare, Humana and Aetna have agreed to continue offering certain provisions of the law, regardless of its legal fate.

According to a report released Friday by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, the ratings agency believes there could very likely be a net negative for for-profit hospitals with the full implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

One of the government's goals is to align its priorities with the private sector, including the development of accountable care organizations, said Marilyn Tavenner, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in a keynote address Thursday at the Third National ACO Summit in Washington, D.C.

As women's health issues have been in the spotlight in recent months and as the healthcare law hangs in the balance waiting for a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Obama administration is in high gear to promote the law's benefits.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced yesterday 45 commercial, state and federal insurers who will participate in the Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) initiative, an effort to improve public health via an emphasis on primary care.