Policy and Legislation
On April 10, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) published parallel proposed rules revising, respectively, the Stark exception and Anti-Kickback safe harbor concerning electronic health record (EHR) items and services.
Getting uninsured Americans covered by insurance is not just a goal of the federal government's. It has also become a goal of the American Hospital Association's and at its annual membership meeting in April, a panel discussion focused on how to reach that goal.
Every week, I get an email from the Maryland Health Connection --- the state run health insurance exchange.
Nearly 18 months in the making and with more twists and turns than a Formula 1 race track, Highmark and West Penn Allegheny Health System received conditional approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance to move forward with its affiliation and plans to create an integrated delivery network.
A new report from the Brookings Institution offers a framework for person-centered care that provides sustainable lowered costs and promotes higher quality care.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed late Friday its fiscal 2014 Medicare payment schedule. Included in the proposal are payment cuts to hospitals that treat uninsured individuals and slightly higher rates for acute care and long-term care hospitals. The proposal also prepares the groundwork for a program that imposes a penalty on facilities that lag on reducing the frequency of hospital-acquired conditions.
It's hard for policy wonks, politicians or health plans to be viewed credibly when promoting health care cost containment. Discussion quickly turns to "rationing," and "death panels," which no one wants to be associated with, and as a result the federal government has done almost everything possible to make sure cost effectiveness and overall costs are ignored in policy making.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has put a halt to what appeared to be smooth sailing for Marilyn Tavenner to officially take the helm of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Prior to Wednesday's budget hearing, Harkin put a hold on Tavenner's nomination.
While the number of medically uninsured young adults dropped over the past two years, coverage of the overall working age population failed to improve, according to the findings of the Commonwealth Fund's 2012 biennial health insurance survey released Friday.
The national plan to tackle Alzheimer's disease made strides in its first year but has much more ground to cover said witnesses testifying during a hearing Wednesday before the U.S. Senate's Special Committee on Aging.