Policy and Legislation

As the GOP-controlled House of Representatives prepares again to vote this week on a repeal of the 2010 health law, some key Republican senators have seized on recent news developments to show their ire.

The federal government has uncovered a string of alleged Medicare fraud attempts totalling $223 million and involving 89 individuals in eight cities.

A new report examining the state of the skilled nursing industry finds that there have been steady quality improvements since 2003 but more can be done.

That sigh of relief you heard Monday was from hospital administrators in nearly two dozen states, including Florida and Texas.

So just about everyone is pretty pumped about the White House announcement of its new open data policy.

Increasing healthcare cost sharing does little to reduce overall healthcare costs or make it more efficient, according to a report released Wednesday by the Economic Policy Institute. But shifting the burden to patients puts an excessive load on those who may need care the most and can least afford it.

In an effort to take the first steps toward a more transparent pricing structure in the U.S. healthcare market, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday published nationwide hospital charge data showing wide variations in how much Medicare pays for services in different markets.

Conventional wisdom is that cutting Medicare rates shifts the burden to the private sector, but an intriguing article in Health Affairs reaches a counterintuitive conclusion.

The healthcare industry is on notice: Fraud recoveries in the healthcare sector are on the rise and whistle-blowers are the biggest weapon in the fight against fraud.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) withdrew on Tuesday his hold that has blocked the nomination of Marilyn Tavenner as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, allowing a Senate vote to proceed.