Here are 14 issues dealing with Medicare or Medicaid that occurred in the past week, starting with the most recent.
1. Hospices will receive a 0.9 percent increase in Medicare payments in fiscal year 2013 under the annual update to the hospice wage index.
2. Maine will have to repay roughly $9.2 million to the federal government after the Office of Inspector General found that the state's Medicaid agency incorrectly processed claim adjustments.
3. CMS will increase the payment rate to inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 2.1 percent for fiscal year 2013.
4. Bruce Siegel, MD, president and CEO of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, explains how current Medicaid policy will affect safety-net hospitals.
5. State Medicaid expansion covering low-income adults is "significantly associated with reduced mortality" along with improved coverage, access to care and self-reported health.
6. The Georgia Department of Community Health, which oversees the state's Medicaid program, recently released data on Georgia's hospital provider fee for fiscal year 2011, showing which hospitals profited and lost the most.
7. Most state Medicaid cuts went into effect as of July 1, when several new fiscal years started.
8. CMS hired a contractor to perform the promised audits of Medicare providers and dual-eligible Medicare and Medicaid hospitals that have received federal electronic health record system incentive payments.
9. If Pennsylvania does not expand its Medicaid program in 2014 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the impacts could be "devastating financially" for state hospitals.
10. Per capita costs of all healthcare services covered by Medicare and commercial insurers rose 6.05 percent year-over-year through May 2012, down slightly from last month's numbers.
11. Readmissions for Medicare patients could more than double their cost of care.
12. In light of the Supreme Court's decision barring HHS from cutting funding from states that choose to opt out of Medicaid expansion, the Congressional Budget Office has revised the budget baseline for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to reflect an $84 billion reduction from a March 2012 estimate.
13. The Minnesota Department of Human Services issued a request for proposal for an independent audit to determine whether state Medicaid payments to third-party managed care companies were higher than amounts allowable under state and federal law.
14. U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-Texas), introduced HR 6142, the Assuring Medicare Stability and Access for Seniors Act of 2012, which would temporarily delay the sustainable growth rate for another year.
1. Hospices will receive a 0.9 percent increase in Medicare payments in fiscal year 2013 under the annual update to the hospice wage index.
2. Maine will have to repay roughly $9.2 million to the federal government after the Office of Inspector General found that the state's Medicaid agency incorrectly processed claim adjustments.
3. CMS will increase the payment rate to inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 2.1 percent for fiscal year 2013.
4. Bruce Siegel, MD, president and CEO of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, explains how current Medicaid policy will affect safety-net hospitals.
5. State Medicaid expansion covering low-income adults is "significantly associated with reduced mortality" along with improved coverage, access to care and self-reported health.
6. The Georgia Department of Community Health, which oversees the state's Medicaid program, recently released data on Georgia's hospital provider fee for fiscal year 2011, showing which hospitals profited and lost the most.
7. Most state Medicaid cuts went into effect as of July 1, when several new fiscal years started.
8. CMS hired a contractor to perform the promised audits of Medicare providers and dual-eligible Medicare and Medicaid hospitals that have received federal electronic health record system incentive payments.
9. If Pennsylvania does not expand its Medicaid program in 2014 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the impacts could be "devastating financially" for state hospitals.
10. Per capita costs of all healthcare services covered by Medicare and commercial insurers rose 6.05 percent year-over-year through May 2012, down slightly from last month's numbers.
11. Readmissions for Medicare patients could more than double their cost of care.
12. In light of the Supreme Court's decision barring HHS from cutting funding from states that choose to opt out of Medicaid expansion, the Congressional Budget Office has revised the budget baseline for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to reflect an $84 billion reduction from a March 2012 estimate.
13. The Minnesota Department of Human Services issued a request for proposal for an independent audit to determine whether state Medicaid payments to third-party managed care companies were higher than amounts allowable under state and federal law.
14. U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-Texas), introduced HR 6142, the Assuring Medicare Stability and Access for Seniors Act of 2012, which would temporarily delay the sustainable growth rate for another year.
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