Category: CMS

Under the federal health law, states have the option of expanding Medicaid coverage to most-low income populations, potentially adding millions of new enrollees. Researchers analyzed 2007-2010 survey data from a study population of more than 1,000 people, and found that, compared to adults already enrolled in state Medicaid programs, low-income uninsured adults who stand to…

The state’s Democratic and Republican lawmakers are embroiled in a game of chicken that threatens to blow up the Medicaid program, which serves 700,000 poor Mississipians. Meanwhile, reports from Indiana, Montana and California detail other developments related to state officials’ decisions about whether to expand the program under the health law. From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130625/Political-fight-jeopardizes-Mississippis-entire-Medicaid-program.aspx

The people of Michigan elected the members of the state Senate to be leaders, not vacationers. Unfortunately, the Senate forgot that Thursday and adjourned for its summer vacation. It left Lansing without voting on a bill that would provide health care coverage to nearly half a million working Michiganders. Ensuring access to affordable, quality health…

Despite providers' continued struggles with ICD-10 implementation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will not conduct any extra external testing, via Medicare administrative contractors, with business partners like hospitals and payers. read more original article source From: http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/cms-no-external-icd-10-testing/2013-06-21?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

ProPublica takes a look at a Medicare drug program report detailing the prescription writing practices of some physicians while USA Today reports on its findings regarding unnecessary surgeries based on a review of government records and medical databases. original article source From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130621/Reviews-highlight-harmful-prescriptions-and-unnecessary-surgeries.aspx

When it comes to the government, everyone's a critic. And of course, the government is low hanging fruit. Putting partisan politics aside, it's pretty easy to rag on the government for mistakes, strategies that fall short, and general shortcomings, like wasting Medicare dollars. So it's refreshing to take a look at a government program that…

But Cindy Mann says that she is confident states will be ready by October to cover the new enrollees who will gain access to the safety net program. original article source From: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20130620/Medicaid-chief-signals-that-state-enrollments-may-start-slowly.aspx

PBS NewsHour reports on some states with GOP governors who opposed the health law but want to pursue the Medicaid expansion. In one such state, Arizona, the Republican governor signed expansion legislation after a bruising fight with conservatives in the legislature. But, in Maine, the governor vetoed such a measure for the second time while…

I’m always happy to look at data. Certainly data can lie, but it can also inform if you are looking at the right data and considering the biases of the data. I applaud ONC for being as transparent as possible with the EHR incentive program data. They have an entire Health IT Dashboard for analyzing…

Donald Berwick, M.D., formerly acting administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and a new official candidate for Massachusetts governor, spoke passionately to a large audience on June 18 at the Healthcare Financial Management Association's (HFMA) annual conference in Orlando, Fla. about transforming America’s healthcare system. Donald Berwick, M.D., formerly acting…