News From Around the Web
> Over the objections of providers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will implement a $60 million payment cut to home healthcare agencies next year, The Hill reported. CMS has also changed requirements for face-to-face encounters between doctors and beneficiaries to verify eligibility for home health benefit payments. Article
> The orthopedic device company Biomet agreed to pay more than $6 million to resolve whistleblower allegations of bribing doctors to use its products from 2001 through 2008, Med Device Online reported. Biomet agreed to the settlement without admitting wrongdoing. Article
> A federal judge in Virginia refused a request to reduce the prison sentence of a woman convicted of defrauding Medicaid, The Virginian-Pilot reported. The woman claimed to have found "true peace and serenity" in prison while completing courses in typing, parenting, Spanish and Bible studies. Article
Healthcare News
> If successful, Cleveland Clinic's new functional medicine department could put the hospital out of business. But the innovative approach to teach patients how to avoid the hospital altogether is just the program that the world renowned, non-profit academic medical center wants to pursue, according to the Desert News National. Article
> Nearly a quarter of older patients say they or a family member with advanced illness were pushed into unwanted or excessive treatment, according to articles published in a recent issue of Public Policy & Aging Report (PP&AR). Article
And Finally... Identity theft ring busted after posting selfie paycheck photos. Article