Category Archives: Uncategorized
Cartoon – The Last Thing I Remember
Cartoon – Laughter is the Best Medicine
51 senators weigh in on site-neutral payment regulations
A bipartisan group of 51 senators sent a letter to CMS, calling for flexibility in the implementation of Medicare payment reductions for services provided in new off-campus hospital outpatient departments. The payment reduction is part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. Under the provision, off-campus outpatient facilities that started billing Medicare under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System on or after Nov. 2, 2015, will not be eligible for reimbursements under the OPPS.
Proposal to Reduce Medicare Drug Payments Is Widely Criticized
An Obama administration proposal to reduce Medicare payments for many prescription drugs has run into sharp bipartisan criticism, suggesting that it is easier to diagnose the problem of high prices than to solve it.
A Tender Steak Could Be A Little Dangerous
San Francisco health insurance startup nabs $160 million in Series C funding
Clover Health, a four-year-old health insurance startup that specializes in the Medicare managed care market, has nabbed $160 million in Series C venture funding in a round led by Greenoaks Capital.
Bone cement company accused of experimenting on humans
In this Aug. 16, 2007, photo provided by Cynthia Wilson, Reba Golden stands outside Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Golden died on the operating table there the next day during what should have been a routine spinal surgery. Like several other spinal surgery patients before her, Golden died after her surgeon injected bone cement into her spine and some of the material leaked into her blood stream, causing massive clotting. Also like the other patients, Golden was never told that the bone cement was not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Cartoon – Modern Healthcare
Hospitals claim the ACA demands mergers: Are judges warming up to the argument?
Judges have largely dismissed the argument that hospitals need to merge to meet the demands of the Affordable Care Act, but a Pennsylvania judge recently accepted the “Obamacare-made-me-do-it” defense, according to the National Law Review. In defense to an antitrust challenge by the FTC, plenty of hospitals have argued mergers are necessary to meet ACA goals, such as moving away from the fee-for-service model and providing high quality care more efficiently.
