Policy and Legislation
The Supreme court on Monday heard opening arguments for Douglas v. Independent Living Center, a California case focused on Medicaid program cuts that could have significant implications for cash-strapped states across the country.
Nearly 100 state and specialty medical societies are urging the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to include medical liability reforms in the legislative proposal it is due to release next month.
In a recent speech at the Hoover Institution, Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) argued again that his proposal to reform Medicare, and now his tax credit proposal for replacing the Democratic health care law for those under-age 65, would guarantee to citizens “options like the ones members of Congress enjoy.”
Inpatient rehabilitation operator HealthSouth is realigning its hospitals into six regions in order to position itself for future expansion.
Carolinas Healthcare System, based in Charlotte, N.C., has been granted a Certificate of Need (CON) by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to construct a 64-bed hospital in Fort Mill, S.C.
Everyone following national economic policy news knows the basics: the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, authorized by August’s Budget Control Act, must create a plan to reduce the national deficit by at least $1.2 trillion. This plan must be in place by Nov. 23, and we all expect Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement to be hit hard.
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is proposing to fix the Sustainable Growth Rate by sharing the cost of repealing the SGR among physicians, other health professionals, providers in other sectors and beneficiaries. The response from those in the industry has been less than supportive.
A recently released report form the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found more than 170,000 instances of so-called 'doctor shopping' of 14 commonly abused prescription medications by Medicare Part D beneficiaries.
Three of the nation's largest for-profit home health companies are "gaming" Medicare, concluded a report released Monday by the Senate Finance Committee. The report accuses Amedisys, LHC Group and Gentiva of intentionally increasing the number of their home health visits in order to plump their profits.
Commercial plans paid $2.1 million and Medicaid paid $900,000 toward state's Multi-Payer PCMH Program's first biannual transformation payment.