Here are eight issues dealing with Medicare or Medicaid that occurred in the past week, starting with the most recent.
1. CMS considered expanding its pilot program for patient-centered medical homes from eight states to more. The program evaluates the effectiveness of PCMHs for Medicare, Medicaid and private health plans.
2. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and three other Republican Congressmen sent a letter to the White House yesterday with two proposals on how to keep the interest rate low on subsidized Stafford student loans. Within one of the proposals was a reduction of the Medicaid provider tax threshold from the current 6 percent to 5.5 percent starting in 2013.
3. Last week, the American Medical Association and the MGMA-ACMPE sent letters to the House Committee on Ways and Means offering alternatives to the sustainable growth rate, which is the cornerstone formula of the current Medicare physician payment system. Ken Perez, senior vice president of marketing and director of healthcare policy for MedeAnalytics, said the biggest hurdle to overcome in the SGR debate is how to pay for a full repeal.
4. The Oregon Health Authority tentatively certified 11 groups for the state's Medicaid coordinated care program, part of an overhaul of the Oregon Health Plan.
5. Actuarial firm Milliman released an accountable care organization "cheat sheet" intended to inform stakeholders about the ins and outs of the Medicare Shared Savings Programs and Pioneer ACOs.
6. The percentage of citizens qualifying for both Medicaid and Medicare varies widely from state to state. Here are the fifteen states with the highest percentage of dual eligibles.
7. Fewer than 200,000 out of more than 600,000 eligible physicians reported measures for CMS' Physician Quality Reporting System in 2010 — a worrisome finding since the program will turn punitive in 2013.
8. During the second quarter of the federal government's 2012 fiscal year, the Medicare Recovery Audit Program collected $588.4 million in overpayments — the most overpayment dollars the RAC program has collected in its existence thus far.
1. CMS considered expanding its pilot program for patient-centered medical homes from eight states to more. The program evaluates the effectiveness of PCMHs for Medicare, Medicaid and private health plans.
2. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and three other Republican Congressmen sent a letter to the White House yesterday with two proposals on how to keep the interest rate low on subsidized Stafford student loans. Within one of the proposals was a reduction of the Medicaid provider tax threshold from the current 6 percent to 5.5 percent starting in 2013.
3. Last week, the American Medical Association and the MGMA-ACMPE sent letters to the House Committee on Ways and Means offering alternatives to the sustainable growth rate, which is the cornerstone formula of the current Medicare physician payment system. Ken Perez, senior vice president of marketing and director of healthcare policy for MedeAnalytics, said the biggest hurdle to overcome in the SGR debate is how to pay for a full repeal.
4. The Oregon Health Authority tentatively certified 11 groups for the state's Medicaid coordinated care program, part of an overhaul of the Oregon Health Plan.
5. Actuarial firm Milliman released an accountable care organization "cheat sheet" intended to inform stakeholders about the ins and outs of the Medicare Shared Savings Programs and Pioneer ACOs.
6. The percentage of citizens qualifying for both Medicaid and Medicare varies widely from state to state. Here are the fifteen states with the highest percentage of dual eligibles.
7. Fewer than 200,000 out of more than 600,000 eligible physicians reported measures for CMS' Physician Quality Reporting System in 2010 — a worrisome finding since the program will turn punitive in 2013.
8. During the second quarter of the federal government's 2012 fiscal year, the Medicare Recovery Audit Program collected $588.4 million in overpayments — the most overpayment dollars the RAC program has collected in its existence thus far.
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