Tag:
Medicare
Latest Headlines
Latest Headlines
GAO questions payment adjustments to IPPS hospitals
A new GAO report ound that Congress has modified how Medicare reimburses certain hospitals under the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS), with 91 percent of hospitals receiving an adjustment or exemption to the IPPS flat fee per stay.
Study: Medicare cuts don't promote hospital cost-shifting
Contrary to the long-held belief that cuts in Medicare spending leads to cost-shifting over to private payer patients, a new study suggests that such private sector spending actually decreases.
Physician-owned hospitals looking for ways around ACA
Physician-owned hospitals are simultaneously lobbying to get some of the financial restrictions imposed by the Affordable Care Act lifted by Congress, while also expanding services that haven't been proscribed, reported The Wall Street Journal .
After CMS releases chargemaster data, hospitals mull price changes
Days after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released hospital chargemaster data for dozens of the most common procedures they perform, providers are mulling whether to cut their prices or do nothing at all.
RACs reclaim $1.37B in overpayments as criticism mounts
In the first six months of fiscal 2013, Medicare recovery auditors (RAC) collected $1.37 billion in overpayments and returned $65.4 million in underpayments, according to new data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
OIG targets hospice misuse of general inpatient care
Hospices with their own inpatient units provided general inpatient care (GIP) to more Medicare beneficiaries, and for longer periods of time, than hospices without such facilities, an investigation by the Office of Inspector General found.
Greater volume, intensity of care strains hospital EDs
A new study by the American Hospital Association has concluded that Medicare patients are receiving care in hospital emergency departments at greater rates and require more intensive care far than just a few years ago, impacting the cost of providing treatment.
Patients sue HHS to kill observation label
A legal battle started by Medicare patients left holding the bag on nursing home costs could indirectly impact the bottom line for hospitals, reported Kaiser Health News .
Cigna's income plummets 85% as Humana's income almost doubles
Both Cigna and Humana released their first-quarter earnings report last week, but the insurers told very different tales of financial performance.
Report: Focus on Medicare, tax reform, care quality could help contain costs
Improving Medicare, reforming tax policies, prioritizing healthcare quality and incentivizing states could save roughly $560 billion over the next decade, according to a report from the Bipartisan Policy Center Health Care Cost Containment Initiative.
