Supreme Court leaves Affordable Care Act intact, but stakeholders say healthcare reform still has a ways to go
Hospital advocates applauded a Supreme Court ruling June 17 that left the Affordable Care Act in place.
MedPAC report: Cost-based reimbursement isn’t an ideal way to sustain rural hospitals
An extensive healthcare policy report by the Medicare Payment and Advisory Commission includes a discussion about the drawbacks of cost-based Medicare reimbursement for rural hospitals.
HHS sends letter to providers, insurers reinforcing requirements for COVID-19 vaccination and testing to be free for all recipients
Xavier Becerra, secretary of HHS, issued a letter emphasizing that out-of-pocket fees for COVID-19-related services are prohibited.
CMS proposes to pull support from organ acquisitions: A grave threat to the future of U.S. organ transplants and donor programs
Transplant patient lives at risk under CMS’s proposal to stop supporting donor community hospitals excising organs for non-Medicare patients on waiting lists.
UnitedHealthcare reverses course on new approach to emergency department claims, but perhaps only temporarily
UHC had announced this week that it would evaluate claims starting July 1 to determine whether ED visits were for emergent or nonemergent events.
Healthcare News of Note: Sg2 report says lower-acuity care to continue its migration outside of hospital walls
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Hospitals to continue to see loss of lower-acuity care, nursing shortage spurs health systems to offer sign-on bonuses and some newly passed state laws could put public health at risk.
Looming UnitedHealthcare policy on coverage of emergency department care draws opposition from hospitals, physicians
In a move strongly opposed by provider associations, UnitedHealthcare soon will start denying coverage of ED care that it deems to have been nonemergent.
CMS nearly doubles the payment rate for administering the COVID-19 vaccine in a Medicare beneficiary’s home
A payment increase for in-home COVID-19 vaccine administration is part of a strategy to improve vaccination rates, which have slowed in recent weeks.
Why fee-for-service can have a place in a reimagined healthcare system, but not as the primary mode of payment
Fee-for-service came under fire during a workshop in which prominent healthcare industry experts spoke of ways to achieve better integration of financing and care delivery.
Study quantifies the cost to physician practices of participating in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System
MIPS participation led to high administrative costs and a significant time drain, according to new research.