ArchCare to pay $3.5M to settle rehab billing complaint
By
John Hall
Mar 03, 2015
A New York nursing home chain agreed Monday to pay $3.5 million to settle government allegations it failed to prevent a rehab subcontractor from overbilling Medicare for therapy.
Assisted living residents with dementia receiving too many antipsychotics, GAO says
By
John Hall
Mar 03, 2015
Government investigators are calling for greater scrutiny of antipsychotics use among dementia patients in post-acute settings beyond nursing homes.
Controversial Medicare auditors group changes name, website
By
John Hall
Mar 02, 2015
A Medicare payment watchdog group saddled with huge case backlogs and heavily criticized for causing delays in resolving reimbursement issues has changed its name and location on the web.
New Medicare ACO to be unveiled soon
By
John Hall
Mar 02, 2015
The government’s top health insurer has announced that providers could get a first look at a new type of Medicare accountable care organization this month. It has been modeled closely after a controversial...
‘Observation status’ provision under further review
By
John Hall
Feb 27, 2015
The American Health Care Association on Thursday applauded a House measure that would inform Medicare beneficiaries of their observation status as hospital inpatient or outpatients. But that might be little...
White House defends MedPAC ‘replacement’ panel in Supreme Court brief
By
John Hall
Feb 26, 2015
The federal government this week argued to the Supreme Court that a lower court was correct when it dismissed challenges to a payment review provision in the Affordable Care Act. Long-term care providers...
Providers ponder prospect of Supreme Court killing Obamacare
By
John Hall
Feb 26, 2015
Individuals struggling to make ends meet and long-term care providers relying on a solvent Medicaid program could be on opposite ends of the verdict when the U.S. Supreme Court begins deliberations on...
Slavitt, Conway rise in rank at CMS
By
John Hall
Feb 25, 2015
A number of internal promotions and a few staff acquisitions from a Health and Human Services’ insurance unit highlight a series of leadership changes at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,...
Medicaid expansion plans fade in several states
By
John Hall
Feb 25, 2015
Several so-called “red states” are leaning toward or have outright abandoned plans to allow expansion of their Medicaid programs, bucking a nationwide groundswell of program enrollment under...
Justice Department investigating Humana billing practices
By
John Hall
Feb 24, 2015
Humana Inc. reports that it is cooperating with a Department of Justice inquiry into whether it exaggerated the severity of elderly patients’ illnesses to generate higher Medicare reimbursements.