Here are six issues dealing with Medicare or Medicaid that occurred in the past week, starting with the most recent.
1. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated maintaining Medicare's current payment rates to physicians would increase federal spending by $10 billion in fiscal year 2013.
2. President Barack Obama's re-election was a major event for the entire country, but it's a relatively neutral event for the credit of non-profit hospitals, according to Moody's Investors Service. The biggest long-term credit negatives for non-profit hospitals are embedded within the healthcare reform law, such as $150 billion of reduced Medicare reimbursements to hospitals over 10 years and $14 billion of Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payment cuts.
3. Saint Anthony Hospital, a 151-bed safety-net facility that primarily cares for the poor and minority population in southwest and west Chicago, launched a campaign against the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, saying the state unlawfully withheld supplemental Medicaid payments owed to the hospital.
4. CMS updated the Home Health Prospective Payment System rates for calendar year 2013, which translates to a $10 million decrease (0.01 percent) in payments to home health agencies.
5. While most states are instituting austerity policies and spending cuts on their Medicaid programs, Colorado is bucking that trend, as Gov. John Hickenlooper proposed an 8.6 percent increase in healthcare funding for 2013-14.
6. HHS and CMS officials said they still need more information before they can approve or deny $20 million in cuts to Maine's Medicaid program, and Gov. Paul LePage (R) called the response "at worst, political delay."
1. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated maintaining Medicare's current payment rates to physicians would increase federal spending by $10 billion in fiscal year 2013.
2. President Barack Obama's re-election was a major event for the entire country, but it's a relatively neutral event for the credit of non-profit hospitals, according to Moody's Investors Service. The biggest long-term credit negatives for non-profit hospitals are embedded within the healthcare reform law, such as $150 billion of reduced Medicare reimbursements to hospitals over 10 years and $14 billion of Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payment cuts.
3. Saint Anthony Hospital, a 151-bed safety-net facility that primarily cares for the poor and minority population in southwest and west Chicago, launched a campaign against the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, saying the state unlawfully withheld supplemental Medicaid payments owed to the hospital.
4. CMS updated the Home Health Prospective Payment System rates for calendar year 2013, which translates to a $10 million decrease (0.01 percent) in payments to home health agencies.
5. While most states are instituting austerity policies and spending cuts on their Medicaid programs, Colorado is bucking that trend, as Gov. John Hickenlooper proposed an 8.6 percent increase in healthcare funding for 2013-14.
6. HHS and CMS officials said they still need more information before they can approve or deny $20 million in cuts to Maine's Medicaid program, and Gov. Paul LePage (R) called the response "at worst, political delay."
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