Author's posts
Congress proposes $90.5 billion in HHS appropriations, including opioid funding
Congressional appropriators have approved $90.5 billion in HHS appropriations in a spending package that includes $3.8 billion in opioids funding.
Senators ask CMS to include opioid treatment in Medicare Advantage model
A bipartisan group of senators urged the CMS to expand a Medicare Advantage experiment and include substance abuse disorder treatment in the program. The move could help combat the opioid epidemic, they claim.
HHS’ work on Anthem’s emergency coverage policy leaves senators dissatisfied
HHS Secretary Alex Azar sidestepped questions from two Democratic senators about whether his agency investigated or took enforcement action against Anthem and other insurers for allegedly violating consumer rights by denying emergency care coverage.
Editorial: The midterm elections will decide the fate of the ACA
If the GOP maintains control of the entire government, the nation’s health insurance marketplace would look a lot like the one that existed before passage of the Affordable Care Act.
Geisinger, Intermountain, others form coalition to address diagnostic errors
A group of 41 leading healthcare organizations will work together to improve the quality of medical diagnoses. The coalition, called ACT for Better Diagnosis, will focus on identifying the main causes of diagnostic errors and working toward…
Arkansas cuts 4,300 off Medicaid under new work requirements
More than 4,300 Medicaid expansion enrollees in Arkansas will lose coverage for the rest of this year because they did not comply for three straight months with the state’s first-in-the-nation work and reporting requirements, state officials…
More Medicare Advantage upcoding could follow court ruling
A federal judge’s recent decision to vacate the 2014 Medicare Advantage overpayment rule paves the way for insurers to continue upcoding to reap higher CMS payments that could cost billions of dollars, experts said.
CMS removes one more barrier to the ACA individual mandate exemption
People who have opted out of exchange coverage will not need to back up their claim for a mandate exemption with paperwork when they file their 2018 taxes, according to the CMS.
Marin General expands partnership with UCSF Health
The not-for-profit California health systems plan to expand their care sites with more Marin and UCSF providers and specialists throughout Marin County.
FDA wants to study whether doctors understand drug ads
The FDA wants to launch a national study to analyze how well doctors understand drug advertising information before they prescribe medications, citing limited data on the issue.
