Medicare Medicaid Category

Medicare & Medicaid

News articles in this section include actions by federal regulators like the CMS and HHS, as well as information on Medicare and state Medicaid coverage and benefits.

Seeking to Kick-Start Biden’s Agenda, Schumer Unveils a Bill for Medicare Drug Price Negotiations

Democratic senators on Wednesday took a formal step toward reviving President Joe Biden’s economic agenda, starting with a measure to let Medicare negotiate prices with drugmakers and to curb rising drug costs more broadly. A similar proposal died in December when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) decided to oppose Biden’s $1.9 trillion Build Back Better bill, ...

Read More

Feds Want a Policy That Advocates Say Would Let Hospitals Off the Hook for Covid-Era Lapses

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is responding to the chaos of the covid-19 pandemic by proposing to hide from the public a rating that lets consumers compare hospitals’ safety records and to waive approximately $350 million in financial penalties for roughly 750 hospitals with the worst patient-safety track records. CMS’ chief medical officer, Dr. Lee Fleisher, said those ...

Read More

CMMI Finds Implicit Bias In 3 Major Payment Models

An analysis of three existing payment models found certain screening tools and other designs led to some Medicare beneficiaries being excluded and prompted the creation of a new guide on how to root out bias in models. Researchers with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) outlined in a Health Affairs article troubling instances of implicit ...

Read More

Government Watchdogs Attack Medicare Advantage For Denying Care And Overcharging

Congress should crack down on Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors that sometimes deny patients vital medical care while overcharging the government billions of dollars every year, government watchdogs told a House panel Tuesday.

Read More

Hospital Groups Decry New Round Of DSH Cuts In Latest Infrastructure Bill

Hospital groups are making a last-minute push to prevent Congress from including cuts to safety net hospitals in a massive $1.75 trillion infrastructure package.

Read More

AHA Wants Congress To Pressure CMS To Reverse Updates For Inpatient Payment Rule

The American Hospital Association (AHA) is turning to lawmakers to pressure the Biden administration to change “woefully inadequate” payment rates proposed for next year. The AHA sent a letter Friday to congressional leaders surrounding the proposed Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (IPPS) rule, which sets inpatient rates for next year. The hospital lobbying group charged that ...

Read More

Senators Unroll Bipartisan Plan To Curb Insulin Prices

Top senators unveiled a bipartisan bill Wednesday that aims to curb the high cost of insulin, a lifesaving drug that some Americans have struggled to pay for as prices of the medicine have soared. The legislation from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) is the product of months of work to forge a compromise. But ...

Read More

Supreme Court Sides With Insurer In Dialysis Coverage Case

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Tuesday that a group health plan in Ohio didn’t violate federal law by offering limited coverage for outpatient dialysis in a case brought by DaVita, one of the largest dialysis providers in the United States. The court sided with Marietta Memorial Hospital’s employee health plan, with Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh writing in ...

Read More

Medicare Could Save Billions Buying Generic Drugs At Mark Cuban’s Prices

Medicare could have saved nearly $4 billion in 2020 by purchasing generic drugs at the same prices offered by Cost Plus Drug Company, Cuban's online pharmacy that launched this year, according to a study published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

Read More

American Hospital Association Urges CMS To Extend Enforcement Discretion For No Surprises Act

The American Hospital Association has urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to extend enforcement discretion for the No Surprises Act regulatory requirement that healthcare providers exchange certain information to create a good faith estimate for uninsured and self-pay patients – until the agency identifies, and providers can implement, a standard, automated way to exchange the ...

Read More
arrowcaret-downclosefacebook-squarehamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarepauseplaytwitter-squareyoutube-square