Policy and Legislation
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed allowing hospitals in the state to be owned and operated by businesses. Though most states already have business-owned hospitals, this will be a major change for New York state, which has one of the tightest-regulated healthcare industries in the nation.
Independence Blue Cross and regional provider Abington Health announced in late February they would leverage Lumeris' consulting and technology services to enhance their two-year-old accountable care initiative.
While Republican members of Congress have announced plans to once again use budget measures to attempt to defund key parts of health reform - including nearly $1 billion the Office of Management and Budget requested for CMS, which presumably would be used for the establishment and operation of state health insurance exchanges - their Republican counterparts who occupy state governors' mansions have begun to sing a different tune.
While Connecticut's 2014-2015 budget has yet to be finalized, hospitals and healthcare systems in the state are claiming that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's proposed cuts of more than $500 million in hospital funding over the next two years would be devastating.
By a majority decision of 76%, a nine year renewal of a local property tax ensuring access to healthcare for the uninsured or underinsured was passed.
A report issued this week by the Government Accountability Office reports that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services overpaid the Medicare Advantage program run by private health insurers by between $3.2 billion and $5.1 billion for the years 2010-2012.
Immigration reform is once again being taken up in the country's capital, and depending on the final shape it takes, it could be a boon for the long-term care industry.
When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed, in mid-February, an additional 2.3 percent cut to the rates it pays private insurers for running Medicare Advantage plans in 2014, the reaction from America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) was swift, comprehensive and sustained.
By 2014, the core operating rules will likely have a major effect on reimbursement and revenue cycle processes and, as a result, payments, according to speakers who represented the payer, provider and banking perspectives at a Tuesday session titled "The Business Side of Care" during the 2013 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition.
Doctor-owned hospitals are earning many of the largest bonuses from the federal health law's new quality programs, even as the law halts their growth.