Policy and Legislation

When the Joint Commission's new standards for hospital accreditation based on language access take full effect a year from now, many hospitals might not make the cut and could lose critical funding.

A report from Moody's Investors Services shows that changes in employee benefits plan designs as well as new medical management techniques such as employee wellness programs are playing a large role in reducing demand for healthcare services.

In a letter to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer earlier this week, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius informed Brewer that the state does not need an HHS waiver for its plans to remove more than 250,000 people from its Medicaid rolls.

Most of the recent attention on the 2010 health care reform legislation has focused on the individual mandate. After two federal court rulings upholding the mandate, a third federal judge—in Virginia—ruled that the Constitution does not allow the government to require the purchase of insurance as part of regulating an interstate commerce market.

Twenty people, including three doctors, have been charged in Florida for their part in a $200 million fraudulent Medicare billing scheme, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services have announced.

NEHI, a national network for health innovation, has proposed a national strategy for disseminating comparative effectiveness research findings that would be led by the newly created Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

President Barack Obama has released a fiscal year 2012 budget proposal that includes funding to stabilize Medicare physician payments.

Physicians show 'mounting frustration' over current payment rate

President Barack Obama's State of the Union address highlighted an aspect of the healthcare debate that shows how much Democrats have riding on finding new ways to cut Medicare and Medicaid costs without cutting enrollment.

House GOP repeal is DOA