medicare reimbursement news from FierceHealthcare
News
Medical device firms may be tapped to cut $15B to $25B in costs
With hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry already agreeing to accept considerable financial cutbacks in Medicare reimbursement to help reform go forward, it now seems to be the medical device... Read more...
Hospital groups seek to use reform to regulate physician-owned hospitals
It's no secret that there's no love lost between traditionally-structured hospitals and physician-owned facilities. After all, traditional hospitals claim that the physician-owned players cherry-pick... Read more...
Homecare group offers its own anti-fraud bill
Hoping to stave off proposed Medicare reimbursement cuts to homecare equipment providers, the American Association for Homecare has developed its own anti-fraud legislation that it plans to present... Read more...
Federal bill would link Medicare hospital pay to quality
Now here's a bill that would scare me a bit if I were a hospital administrator--even if it was inevitable (and it is) that such a measure would be written. Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Chuck Grassley... Read more...
Almost half of TX doctors opting out of Medicare
In Texas, it appears that officials' worst fears about Medicare acceptance are coming to pass. According to a recent survey by the Texas Medical Association, only 58 percent of doctors in the state... Read more...
GAO: Providers owe $2B in taxes, still get Medicare dollars
Healthcare providers owe the government more than $2 billion in back taxes, but those that owe are still allowed to collect Medicare payments, according to research by the Government Accountability... Read more...
CMS plans new ranking system for nursing homes
CMS has set plans to introduce a new ranking system for nursing homes on its consumer Web site. CMS's new Nursing Home Compare site will introduce a new five-star ranking system in December designed... Read more...
AHA says CMS hospital quality measures aren't ready
As things stand, hospitals soon will have to report on 72 quality measures (up from 30) if they want to receive full Medicare reimbursement. However, most of the new quality measures proposed by CMS... Read more...
CMS wants to cut skilled-nursing spending
CMS says it is proposing to cut about $770 million in overall payments to skilled-nursing facilities in fiscal 2009, though it also plans to help the industry with an inflationary update to absorb... Read more...
Hospitals win back $666M from Medicare
In a deal that marks one of the largest settlements ever paid by the federal government to healthcare providers, CMS has agreed to pay out $666 million to 667 hospitals that sued for back payments.... Read more...
