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.

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 ...

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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 ...

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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.

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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 ...

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Hospitals Decry CMS Pay Bump ‘Woefully Inadequate’ Amid Rising Labor Rates

Hospital groups and providers are demanding the Biden administration increase a proposed 3.2% pay bump for inpatient payments to facilities, arguing inflation and a staffing crisis are still hitting them hard. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed the pay bump for fiscal year 2023 as part of the Inpatient Prospective Payment System ...

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Survey: 13% Of Medicare Advantage Claims, Prior Authorization Requests Denied

A recent survey of Medicare Advantage enrollees found 13% had a claim or pre-authorization request denied as the program has gotten scrutiny over its prior authorization practices. The survey, released Monday by the online insurance marketplace eHealth, also found that 67% of respondents chose MA over Medigap due to concerns over its affordability. The MA ...

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Janet Trautwein: ‘Medicare For All’ Bad News For Patients

In California, Democrats call for "a universal, single-payer healthcare system" as part of their party platform. A bid to install such a system failed in the California Assembly at the end of January, but the Golden State's leaders have promised to make another run at it.

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Computer Glitches and Human Error Still Causing Insurance Headaches for Californians

Since California expanded health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, a large number of people have been mistakenly bounced between Covered California, the state’s marketplace for those who buy their own insurance, and Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program for low-income residents. Small income changes can cause people’s eligibility to shift, but when bad information is typed into ...

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Go-Broke Dates Pushed Back For Social Security, Medicare

A stronger-than-expected economic recovery from the pandemic has pushed back the go-broke dates for Social Security and Medicare, but officials warn that the current economic turbulence is putting additional pressures on the bedrock retirement programs. The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released Thursday says Social Security’s trust fund will be unable to pay ...

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Medicare Recipients To See Premium Cut — But Not Until 2023

Medicare recipients will get a premium reduction — but not until next year — reflecting what Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Friday was an overestimate in costs of covering an expensive and controversial new Alzheimer’s drug. Becerra’s statement said the 2022 premium should be adjusted downward but legal and operational hurdles prevented ...

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