ACA Medicaid Enrollment Draws Administration Scrutiny
Aug. 21—States that broadly exceeded their Medicaid expansion enrollment projections will be among those targeted in recently launched eligibility audits, a senior administration official told Congress this week.
Administration Touts Some Drug Price Improvements
Aug. 20—One hundred days after the Trump administration’s release of a blueprint to cut drug costs and out-of-pocket expenses, administration officials touted some signs of progress.
ACO Advocates Warn on Program Overhaul
Aug. 13—A proposed overhaul of Medicare’s primary accountable care organization (ACO) program could cause massive departures, advocates for the entities warned soon after it was issued.
Bundled Payment Deals Prompt Hospitals to Rethink Relationships with SNFs
Aug. 14—Hospital and health system CFOs who are trying to make bundled payments work may find an answer in closer clinical alignment with skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), according to a new study.
Rewarding Investment in Social Determinants of Health
Aug. 10—Healthcare providers and health insurers would be far more likely to spend money on health-improving social programs if they could count on a monetary return on their investment.
Aug. 13-17: Senate to Vote on HHS Funding
Aug. 10—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would receive a small increase and funding for several hospital priorities under a FY19 funding bill that the Senate is expected to vote on next week.
CMS Official: Logistical Limits Restricting New Payment Models
Aug. 8—Medicare has not approved more alternative payment models—despite calls by many hospitals and physicians for more of them—due to limits in time, staff, and funding, a Medicare executive said.
Are Employers Rethinking High-Deductible Plans?
Aug. 7—Employers that provide insurance for their workers are expressing an unusual degree of reluctance about high-deductible health plans (HDHPs).
IPPS Rule Includes Pay Bump, Reporting Simplification
Aug. 6—More than 3,000 hospitals will receive an average increase of nearly 3 percent in their Medicare inpatient payment rates—along with a slew of policy changes—under a recently issued final rule.
In Q2, Hospital M&A Slows, Practice Acquisition Stays Flat
Aug. 3—The merger-and-acquisition (M&A) momentum in health care during the second quarter of the year switched from hospitals to physician practices, according to tracking companies.