Category: CMS

The Justice Department says in a lawsuit that IPC The Hospitalist Co., which assigns doctors to hospitals in 28 states, bilked Medicare and Medicaid by billing for more expensive care than was provided. …read more    

Alexian Brothers Health System is suspending its effort to launch a new Medicaid program, blaming the difficulty of connecting physicians using different electronic records systems. The Arlington Heights, Ill.-based health system was spearheading a so-called accountable care entity (ACE) to coordinate the care of about 46,000 patients on Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for…

Five Points Healthcare announced that it acquired BestCare Home Care on April 30, 2014. BestCare is a home health provider of Medicare-certified, Medicaid-waiver and personal care services throughout Northern and Western Virginia. …read more    

The American Hospital Association “strongly” urges that a rule recently proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT providing flexibility in the criteria to be used when attesting to Meaningful Use in 2014 be finalized as soon as possible. read more …read more    

A majority of participants in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program favored an online enrollment process, but a segment still wants to be able to interact with caseworkers, according to a study from Georgia State University. read more …read more    

A CQ Healthbeat look at Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California finds a light footprint when it comes to health care matters. Meanwhile, physician and health care groups seek an extension of a health law provision that boosts Medicaid payments to primary care doctors. …read more    

In Illinois, Medicaid coverage of adult dental and podiatry care is restored following a two-year cut. Unlike its neighboring states of Missouri and Nebraska, where significant decreases have been reported, Kansas has seen a significant jump in the number of people enrolled in its Medicaid-CHIP programs, even without loosening its relatively tight eligibility standards. …read…

​The American Hospital Association (AHA) is trying to light a fire under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to establish its promised centralized database on the readiness of public health agencies and registries to receive electronic data from providers by putting pressure on the Office of Management and Budget. read more …read more    

As an example of how the normally sclerotic Congress can act extremely quickly when properly motivated, both chambers passed bills this week to ameliorate the Veterans Affairs health services scandal. …read more    

A selection of health policy stories from Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Georgia, Missouri, Maryland, New York, Kansas and Washington state. …read more