Medicare news from FierceHealthcare
News
House democrats introduce health reform bill with a public option
Earlier today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled health reform legislation that promises to expand health care to 36 million people and fortify Medicare and Medicaid. The House democrats sponsored... Read more...
Public interest rising in bundled payments, but uncertainties remain
When a term appears in USA Today, you can be pretty sure it has gone mainstream--and this week, the term "bundled payments' is featured in a piece in the national daily, suggesting that if nothing... Read more...
Organized crime getting deeper into medical identity theft
Medicare and Medicaid fraud is nothing new--but the extent to which these programs are being bilked by hard-core criminal organizations is. As we've reported here previously, evidence continues to... Read more...
NCQA: Healthcare quality improvement stalls
After more than a decade of improvement, healthcare quality remained flat in 2008, particularly in the mental health and substance abuse arena, according to an annual report by the National Committee... Read more...
SPOTLIGHT: Medicare premiums to rise 15 percent next year
Next year won't be a pretty one for senior healthcare. As things stand, the basic Medicare premium will jump by 15 percent, to $110.50 a month. This will be the first time that Medicare premiums have... Read more...
Study: Add more MRI machines, get more back studies
It's a unique phenomenon of medicine that medical testing devices create their own demand. Unfortunately, that may also mean that patients get procedures that they don't necessarily need. A new study... Read more...
Mayo Clinic performance rating comes under scrutiny
The White House has praised the Mayo Clinic and other Midwest clinics for performance ratings, but critics argue that Mayo's low- to no-acceptance of Medicare/Medicaid skews the results. Critics say... Read more...
Facility fees continue to bedevil patients
As we've noted previously in this publication, charging patients both physician and facility fees isn't popular with consumers. Many consumers feel taken by surprise, and often rather angry, when... Read more...
Fight erupts on Hill over attempt to raise pharma contributions to reform
Right now, the White House expects to fund reform with contributions from several major sectors within the healthcare industry. That includes the pharmaceutical giants, who have agreed to a cut of... Read more...
Senators protest CMS funding cut for radiation oncology
A group of Senators have taken a stand against proposed cuts to Medicare payments for radiation oncology, arguing that it doesn't make sense to lump a critical treatment of this kind in with... Read more...
