Category: CMS

Today’s headlines include reports about future health spending projections from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Actuaries as well as the latest on the upcoming House vote on a stopgap funding measure that would also defund the health law. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130919/First-Edition-September-19-2013.aspx

Mississippi’s prison and mental health systems and Medicaid program are seeking millions of extra dollars to get through the budget year, then more money on top of that for the coming year. Agency leaders appeared Tuesday before the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to request money for fiscal year 2014, which ends June 30, and for…

In the short term, the federal deficit will fall. But, starting in 2016, as more baby boomers join the Medicare ranks, the deficits again will pick up. With this news in the backdrop, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned Republican lawmakers of the dangers of risking a government default as part of their efforts to derail…

Patient satisfaction has an increasing impact on hospitals’ bottom lines, factoring into Medicare reimbursement of hospital care. A new study finds patients placed in Contact Precautions (Contact Isolation) were twice as likely to report perceived problems with care compared to patients without Contact Precautions, placing the common infection control practice at odds with hospital interests.…

On Sep. 18, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the most recent statistics on healthcare spending, with the agency noting that the first phases of implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) slowed Medicare spending in 2012. On Sep. 18, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the…

These critics [like Heritage Action and the Club for Growth] portrayed the Boehner plan as a sellout because of a campaign that captured the imagination of some conservatives this summer: Republicans must threaten to crash their Zeros into the aircraft carrier of ObamaCare. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130918/Viewpoints-WSJ-says-GOP-kamikaze-defunding-mission-will-not-go-well3b-taxing-Medicare-benefits3b-problems-with-Penn-States-wellness-program.aspx

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder are the most recent to express interest, and even support, for the health law’s Medicaid expansion. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130918/Medicaid-expansion-increasingly-in-vogue-with-Republican-governors.aspx

Elimination of a Medicare rule that mandates a three-night hospital stay as a precondition for skilled nursing rehabilitation coverage could reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and improve patient care without increasing costs to the patient or the federal government, a leading geriatrician asserts in on online publication of the Journal of the American Medical Association. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130917/Leading-geriatrician-asserts-elimination-of-Medicare-three-night-hospital-stay-rule.aspx

Corbett, a Republican, is reportedly likely to call for a hybrid program similar to what Arkansas is doing. In Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s vows to expand the program for low-income people could hold the state’s budget hostage, Republicans argue. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130917/PA-Gov-Corbett-expected-to-announce-Medicaid-expansion-plan-today3b-issue-also-contentious-in-VA-governors-race.aspx

Safety measures intended to improve bariatric surgery outcomes may impede obese minorities’ access to care. This is according to a new research letter published online in the September 12 issue of JAMA which compares rates of bariatric (weight-loss) surgery for minority Medicare vs. non-Medicare patients before and after implementation of a Medicare coverage policy. From:…