Category: CMS

What’s going on in Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa ought to be a wake-up call to Minnesotans who prefer that physicians, not politicians, guide an individual’s medical care. Minnesota’s neighbors have moved with alarming alacrity to cripple women’s access to a safe and legal medical procedure -; abortion (7/18). From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130720/Viewpoints-Expanding-abortion-restrictions3b-Lift-the-ban-on-gay-blood-donors3b-Medicares-price-schedules.aspx

The proposal would get rid of the sustainable growth rate formula and replace it with a system that rewards doctors based on quality and efficiency measures, MedPage Today reports. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130720/House-panel-releases-draft-bill-to-repeal-Medicares-payment-system-for-doctors.aspx

In a recent letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner and National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari, House legislators call for the expansion of the physician self-referral law exception and anti-kickback statute safe harbor for electronic health records. read more From: http://www.fierceemr.com/story/legislators-expand-ehr-anti-kickback-safe-harbors/2013-07-19?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

Republican Randy Richardville says the debate will have to wait until a group of senators studying the issue submit their proposal. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130719/Michigan-Senate-leader-says-Medicaid-expansion-vote-could-come-in-August.aspx

Nearly half of all Americans will outlive their assets, dying with practically no money at all. Even more worrisome, that’s true even among households that met the traditional standards for secure retirement income. … The results can be measured in more than merely dollars and cents. [MIT Economist James] Poterba’s paper found that this group…

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released data that shows healthcare providers have used electronic health record (EHRs) to provide information securely to patients, empowering them while managing their care and reducing medical errors The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released data that shows healthcare providers have used electronic health record…

Physicians who prepare and examine tissue samples within their own practices, or who use services in which they have a financial interest, report higher use of these services, which could be driving up costs to Medicare, according to the Government Accountability Office. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130717/Self-referred-biopsies-cost-taxpayers-millions-GAO-reports.aspx

The mystery regarding America’s high healthcare prices is increasingly becoming public knowledge. It’s not just the CMS releasing hospital outpatient data; it’s organizations like Fair Health and a database that has information on 16 billion billed medical and dental services. Forget the snake—this is the year of transparency. Secret societies. Price-fixing. A nation’s healthcare system…

Medicaid recipients will face co-pays for some treatments and have their medical services tracked as part of a program overhaul that is intended to lower the costs of providing health care, Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration announced Monday. There will be no changes in determining who qualifies for Medicaid, which serves about a quarter of New…