kaiser
Hospitals requiring upfront cash payments
Of late, a growing number of hospitals--including not-for-profits--have been insisting on cash payments before they offer services to non-emergency patients. While it may not generate the best PR,... Read more...
Healthcare industry top spender on federal lobbying in '07
It's good to get attention from federal legislators, but it's going to cost you. That's no mystery to some key healthcare groups, who collectively spent $445 million on federal lobbying during 2007,... Read more...
CA struggles with transplant costs for illegal immigrants
Without a doubt, transplants are an extremely costly business. The question is, can states and counties afford to provide them for illegal immigrants in addition to their own citizens? In... Read more...
Bill may narrow health plan coverage exclusions
Right now, when consumers change health plans, federal law allows the new plan to refuse coverage of pre-existing conditions for 12 months. However, things may end up being different if a new bill... Read more...
Competitive DME bidding could save CMS $1B
A new CMS analysis suggests that its new competitive bidding program for Medicare DME suppliers might save $1 billion in 2009 alone. Right now, CMS pays for DME under a listed price, but under the... Read more...
Bill would make pharmas, device makers disclose gifts
A measure that would force pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers to disclose gifts valued at more than $25 seems to be gathering momentum. Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Pete Stark... Read more...
Senators plan bill countering pharma detailing tactics
Across the country, on an ad-hoc basis, isolated programs already have sprung up to counter tactics used by pharma sales reps to sell drugs. Now, Senators are considering a bill that would offer... Read more...
Freeze proposed on Medicare audit program
A federal legislator has proposed legislation that would place a one-year national freeze on Medicare's recovery audit program, which has drawn criticism from many observers for the way it rewards... Read more...
Who will pay for DTC pharma ad oversight?
Right now, there's a little-watched debate underway on the Hill which could have a meaningful influence on the growth of direct-to-consumer pharma advertising. The question is whether Congress should... Read more...
Trend: Hospitals improving informed consent process
Increasingly, U.S. hospitals have begun to improve their process for obtaining informed consent from patients, in part due to research concluding that most patients don't read consent forms (or... Read more...
