Here are six issues dealing with Medicare or Medicaid that occurred in the past week, starting with the most recent.
1. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told other liberal policymakers that Medicare and Medicaid reforms are needed to ensure their long-term health, but those two programs should not be part of the immediate fiscal cliff talks.
2. HHS' Office of Inspector General expected recoveries from audits and investigations to total roughly $6.9 billion for fiscal year 2012. Also, the OIG reported $8.5 billion in estimated savings resulting from legislative, regulatory or administrative actions to reduce fraud in Medicare, Medicaid and other HHS programs.
3. Hospitals with high rates of surgical site infections after hip arthroplasty can be identified with Medicare claims.
4. If all states implemented the Medicaid expansion within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the total cost would be only $8 billion more than what states would spend on Medicaid under the PPACA without the expansion from 2013 through 2022. That results in only a 0.3 percent increase in total Medicaid spending.
5. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that a 2004 HHS rule change in how Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments were calculated must be vacated due to the department's "gravely flawed" rulemaking process.
6. Roughly 2.4 million Medicare patients are currently receiving care through an accountable care organization.
1. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told other liberal policymakers that Medicare and Medicaid reforms are needed to ensure their long-term health, but those two programs should not be part of the immediate fiscal cliff talks.
2. HHS' Office of Inspector General expected recoveries from audits and investigations to total roughly $6.9 billion for fiscal year 2012. Also, the OIG reported $8.5 billion in estimated savings resulting from legislative, regulatory or administrative actions to reduce fraud in Medicare, Medicaid and other HHS programs.
3. Hospitals with high rates of surgical site infections after hip arthroplasty can be identified with Medicare claims.
4. If all states implemented the Medicaid expansion within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the total cost would be only $8 billion more than what states would spend on Medicaid under the PPACA without the expansion from 2013 through 2022. That results in only a 0.3 percent increase in total Medicaid spending.
5. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that a 2004 HHS rule change in how Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments were calculated must be vacated due to the department's "gravely flawed" rulemaking process.
6. Roughly 2.4 million Medicare patients are currently receiving care through an accountable care organization.
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