The 340B drug discount program is under scrutiny yet again. This time the GAO is calling for additional oversight of the program and its contracted pharmacies with a report that shows nearly half of covered entities didn’t pass drug discounts to low-in…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced decisions on two states’ requests to modify their Medicaid programs this week. Important legal distinctions between the requests may have caused one to be approved and the other denied.
Approximately 1 in 7 patients who visit the emergency department will be stuck with a surprise bill, according to Ashish Jha, M.D., director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. “I think this is an outrage,” he told members of the Senate HELP Commit…
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota has named a new president and CEO, and on Capitol Hill, Democrats continue to push back against the administration’s decision to support a lawsuit that would roll back the Affordable Care Act.
At the tail end of Alzheimer’s awareness month, Kenneth Thorpe discusses what the federal government and private companies are doing to combat the disease and how a cure could save trillions.
After months of speculation, it finally happened: Amazon jumped headlong into the drug distribution business with its acquisition of PillPack, an online, mail-order pharmacy. The news sent shares of Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid plummeting, even as Walgr…
A day after CMS announced a new initiative to curb Medicaid fraud, witnesses from OIG and GAO told lawmakers HHS hasn’t acted on longstanding recommendations. They also said supplemental payments and demonstration programs lack the appropriate oversight.
It’s quite literally paid off for primary care physicians who have participated in CareFirst’s patient-centered medical home model and demonstrated both quality care and cost savings.
Chet Burrell, president and CEO of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, is counting the days to his retirement. He weighs in on the company’s status in ACA marketplaces and the joint insurance venture between JPMorgan, Amazon and Berkshire Hathaway.
More than 50 ACOs, providers, payers and patient advocacy groups signed on to a letter calling for CMS to include data sharing as a requirement to participate in Medicare and Medicaid. The letter said the shift “represents an important first step in fo…
