Policy and Legislation

Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott has said he will sue the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for allegedly threatening to withhold other federal funds if the state fails to adopt expansion.

New law reinforces the need for hospitals and health systems to establish strategic ties with physicians, ratings agency says.

The SGR repeal legislation could kill the proverbial two birds with one stone, replacing once and for all the unpopular SGR, while also supporting the Department of Health and Human Services' push for fee for value in general and ACOs in particular.

The bill ends years of "doc fixes" to stop mandatory physician pay cuts from taking effect under a SGR formula for controlling costs, a measure most agreed never worked.

The bill to replace the SGR avoids the short-range physician payment cuts, but it raises long-range concerns that may need more legislative fixes.

The bill would expand coverage using federal subsidies, but would also require some enrollees to pay premiums and participate in job programs.

Facing a $170 million budget shortfall, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy and other lawmakers are floating a raft of ideas to save money, including an increase in the state hospital tax, Medicaid funding cuts, limits on hospital tax credits and a new way for municipalities to tax hospital property.

Issue raises concerns about how well the insurance marketplaces can handle the flux.

The agency is also briefly delaying enforcement of the 'two midnight rule' until Senators have a chance to vote on the bill.

Uncertainty created by allowing the providers to go to court on reimbursement rates rather than petition the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services would have been enough for states to block Medicaid expansion.