Policy and Legislation
The record slow growth rate in healthcare spending in recent years is the result largely of economic factors beyond the health system, with the economic recession and its fallout explaining 77 percent of the slowdown, according to a report released Monday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Altarum Institute. If the economy strengthens as anticipated, healthcare spending will also accelerate, the two organizations concluded.
By a majority decision of 76%, a nine year renewal of a local property tax ensuring access to healthcare for the uninsured and underinsured was passed.
The debate about the increasing role of nurse practitioners was taken up by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) early in April, when the commission addressed issues of reimbursement for NPs and other non-physician practitioners.
The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved Marilyn Tavenner to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Tavenner, who has been temporarily running CMS for the past two years, now faces a full Senate vote before she can officially assume the position of CMS administrator.
Michael D. Miller, MD, owner of HealthPolCom Consulting, speaks with George Jones, CEO of Bread for the City, about health reform and access to care for Washington, D.C.'s low-income population.
As Arkansas prepares to implement its plan to expand Medicaid to those up to 138 percent of FPL via private plans on the state HIX, it still leaves many policy and cost questions unanswered.
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), Heritage Provider Network (HPN), and The Advisory Board Company have launched the Care Transformation Prize Series, a national contest to address the most daunting data problems US health care organizations face as they implement new delivery system and payment reforms.
The Bipartisan Policy Center on Thursday released what it hopes will be "a viable political plan to reign in the spiraling costs" of healthcare while also improving quality.
A study conducted by Harvard researchers on the insurance purchased through the state insurance exchange, the Commonwealth Connector, showed that some families experienced high levels of financial burden and higher-than-expected costs.
Bundled care is touted frequently these days as one of the best ways in healthcare to save money, right reimbursement wrongs and heighten the quality of care. While the model is still being debated within the industry, a recent report indicates that consumers like it.