News From Around The Web
> The New Hampshire House has passed a bill that would expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act. The vote was along party lines in the Democrat-controlled House, and support in the state's GOP-controlled Senate remains unlikely, according to the Concord Monitor. Article
> New York State has adopted new rules for hospitals requiring them to notify patients and their families if they were in observation care rather than admitted as an inpatient. Facilities risk fines for a failure to notify, The New York Times reports. Article
> Federal officials have granted a waiver to Wisconsin for an alternative plan to expand the Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act. The proposal will include shifting some 77,000 enrollees out of the BadgerCare program into alternative coverage, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Article
Provider News
> A new Office of Inspector General report finds the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must change the way it monitors the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) program as MACs failed to meet a quarter of the government's quality assurance standards and didn't have action plans for 12 percent of these unmet standards. Article
Healthcare IT News
> Despite a myriad of physician excuses for delaying the move from ICD-9 to ICD-10, the deadline for implementation now sits a mere nine months away. To that end, writes medical coding expert Betsy Nicoletti, failure to make the switch could have devastating consequences, including claims processing delays or denials, all of which ultimately means no money. Article
And finally...Cockroach meets ear. Article