In a 260-167 vote Thursday, the House of Representatives approved the FY 2011 budget, which President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) brokered...
Congressional impasse could lead to government shutdown in less than two weeks
Mar 31, 2011
With Congressional Democrats and Republicans failing to reach an agreement on proposed federal funding cuts—including possible reductions to healthcare reform and entitlements—analysts are predicting...
State Medicaid funding reduction looms; nursing home advocates urge caution on Medicaid reforms
Mar 29, 2011
The federal government on Friday will scale back the amount of Medicaid money it sends to states as one phase of a temporary increase to the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) comes to an end.
Congressman to introduce bill to repeal CLASS Act after hearing discussion of strengths, flaws of long-term...
Mar 18, 2011
The Community Living Assistance and Services and Supports (CLASS) Act will be repealed if physician-congressman Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) has his way. Gingrey said Thursday that he intended to unveil a...
Assisted living advocate calls for more public financing, less federal regulation of industry
Mar 16, 2011
The issues facing Medicaid coverage in assisted living are fundamentally economic, not regulatory, according to at least one participant in Tuesday’s roundtable discussion on assisted living held...
MedPAC recommendation of 0% pay increase for 2012 leaves long-term care providers fuming
Mar 16, 2011
Long-term care groups on Tuesday strongly criticized the latest round of recommendations to Congress from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
Community pharmacists, congressmen question CMS plan to shorten long-term care drug-dispensing cycles
Mar 15, 2011
There is “scant evidence” that implementing shorter prescription drug dispensing cycles in long-term care will actually reduce costs, according to a statement issues Monday from the National...
Congress improves its writing skills
By
Liza Berger
Sep 29, 2010
It sounds like a set-up for a punch line. The Senate this week passed the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Plain Writing Act? So what do we have now? Inscrutable, government-speak?
The question becomes: How much will Congress boost physicians’ pay?
Apr 02, 2010
With Congress out on the last half of its two-week spring break, eyes in the provider community will be looking to see what type of fix lawmakers might float regarding Medicare physician pay levels. Based...
Some healthcare groups, lawmakers slam proposal for new agency governing Medicare rates
Jul 28, 2009
President Obama has proposed creating a new executive agency, the Independent Medicare Advisory Council, to set Medicare payment updates. So far, that idea is meeting strong resistance from the healthcare...