OIG: Government should consider more drug substitution
By
John Hall
Mar 03, 2015
Drug substitutions saved the government $13 million last year, but more drug substitutions under Medicare Part B would have saved an additional $6 million, the Office of Inspector General for Health and...
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,...
Officials: More additions and rebasings of nursing home ratings to come
By
James M. Berklan
Feb 23, 2015
Nearly one-third of the nation’s skilled nursing facilities lost a rating star due purely to administrative changes Friday, when regulators also emphasized that more quality measures will be added...
RAC groups battle provider plea for short-stay payment relief
By
John Hall
Feb 19, 2015
Third-party firms that audit Medicare bills for payment issues are pushing back hard against a hospital association plea for more favorable short-stay reimbursements, adding to the ongoing unwelcome specter...
CMS delays repayment final rule a year
By
John Hall
Feb 18, 2015
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Tuesday made official its plan to postpone implementation of a new rule on collecting hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments until Feb. 16, 2016...
Changes to Five Star expected, providers fear lower ratings
By
Elizabeth Newman
Feb 12, 2015
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is expected to unveil major changes to Nursing Home Compare today that could cause facilities to lose rating stars, according to industry sources.
Providers complain to feds about ACO structure, want more incentives
By
John Hall
Feb 10, 2015
A new rule proposing sweeping changes to the Medicare accountable care model offers few incentives and could dissuade greater participation, 34 leading healthcare organizations and industry groups said...
ICD-10 transition going better than expected for healthcare operators
By
John Hall
Feb 10, 2015
Despite two delays and a host of costly implementation issues over the past year, most healthcare providers will likely make a successful transition to the 10th round of ICD codes, a General Accountability...
Medicare Advantage funding could be cut
By
John Hall
Feb 09, 2015
Supporters of Medicare Advantage program are roundly criticizing President Obama’s fiscal 2016 budget plan to slash more than $36 billion in its funding over the coming decade.
Provider groups push for RAC reform
By
John Hall
Feb 06, 2015
Hospital industry groups said Thursday they’d rather the government reform the Recovery Audit Contractor program than simply throw more money at fixing an onerous backlog of more than 800,000 Medicare...