Government: Page 113
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CMS tweaks local coverage policy to speed access to medical devices
AdvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker said the agency's actions are commendable, but more should be done.
By David Lim • Oct. 5, 2018 -
CVS, Aetna defend merger potential to Connecticut regulators
The $69 billion deal is considered to have a good chance for approval. Aetna agreed last week to sell its standalone Medicare Part D business to help clear antitrust hurdles.
By Samantha Liss • Oct. 5, 2018 -
Trendline
Labor
Hospitals are navigating persistent labor shortages with the need to cut costs — a source of contention that could leave patients caught in the middle.
By Healthcare Dive staff -
Health insurance premium growth exceeds wage increases, inflation
Employer-based single coverage deductibles rose 212% on average over the past decade, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
By Les Masterson • Oct. 4, 2018 -
JAMA: Patients rated virtual visits better when given antibiotics
Researchers found that 72% of patients who didn't receive a prescription, 91% of those who received an antibiotic and 86% of those who received a nonantibiotic medication gave the doctor's visit the highest marks.
By Les Masterson • Oct. 4, 2018 -
Massachusetts nurse staffing mandate could cost nearly $950M annually
If the ballot question passes, hospitals in the state would have to hire as many as 3,100 additional full-time nurses to be in compliance, according to the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission.
By Tony Abraham • Oct. 4, 2018 -
Paratek eyes 800 key hospital accounts for new antibiotic's rollout
The pharma shed its clinical-stage title on Tuesday as the FDA approved Nuzyra along with another of its drugs.
By Jacob Bell • Oct. 4, 2018 -
Competition in ACA exchanges has plummeted since 2016
Counties without at least three payers offering plans tended to be rural and had higher mortality rates. They were also more likely to be in states that did not expand Medicaid.
By Les Masterson • Oct. 3, 2018 -
Pair of doctor surveys find burnout fears, pessimism about value-based contracting
More than half of respondents to a Doctors Company survey said EHRs are negatively affecting the physician-patient relationship, hurting productivity and damaging workflow.
By Les Masterson • Oct. 3, 2018 -
US pays 6 times more than Germany for cardiac implants, study finds
A dramatic divergence in the prices of stents and pacemakers was the most striking finding from an analysis of what hospitals in five countries pay.
By Nick Paul Taylor • Oct. 3, 2018 -
GAO: rural hospital closures increasing, South hardest hit
States with Medicaid expansion were less likely to have rural hospital closures than states that did not broaden the program, according to the analysis.
By Meg Bryant • Oct. 2, 2018 -
CMS launches online Medicare open enrollment initiative
Components of the effort include a revamped coverage wizard allowing users to compare the average cost of different plans and a standalone out-of-pocket cost calculator for both overall and prescription drug costs.
By Rebecca Pifer • Oct. 2, 2018 -
Nearly a third of health IT developers producing FHIR products, ONC says
More than half of health IT developers are using FHIR combined with OAuth 2.0, the industry standard for authorization, according to a new report from the government agency.
By Meg Bryant • Oct. 2, 2018 -
Partners-Care New England merger granted expedited review
The Rhode Island Department of Health is speeding up the review because Care New England has "distressed" hospitals in the state.
By Les Masterson • Oct. 2, 2018 -
Report raises concerns about potential Massachusetts health system merger
A state agency reviewing the proposed merger between Beth Israel Deaconess and Lahey Health found that despite potential savings there's "no reasonable scenario in which such savings would offset spending increases."
By Les Masterson • Oct. 1, 2018 -
Medicare Advantage premiums expected to drop again
CMS predicted 36% of Medicare beneficiaries will have an MA plan in 2019, and more than 90% of them will have 10 or more plans to choose from.
By Les Masterson • Oct. 1, 2018 -
Supreme Court to hear DSH payments case
An appellate court found HHS violated the Medicare Act by altering the formula for disproportionate share hospital payments without public notice and comment.
By Meg Bryant • Sept. 28, 2018 -
Deep Dive
Hospitals prepare for uncompensated care payment change
The move is meant to even the playing field for hospitals and create more transparency.
By Les Masterson • Sept. 28, 2018 -
Readmission reduction program not associated with increased mortality, study finds
Researchers looked at mortality rates among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for three common conditions and sought to evaluate the effects of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.
By Tony Abraham • Sept. 28, 2018 -
Opioid interventions can curb overprescribing, boost MAT access, JAMA studies show
Though the root cause of the opioid crisis is still being debated, many attribute it to the rapid growth in prescribing starting in the 1990s and peaking in 2012 — a 300% expansion according to some metrics.
By Rebecca Pifer • Sept. 28, 2018 -
Employer-based health insurance offerings increase for first time in decade
Healthcare costs, however, remain a major concern for small businesses, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
By Les Masterson • Sept. 28, 2018 -
Provider breaches more common than health plan breaches, but put fewer records at risk, study finds
Between 2010 and 2017, the Office for Civil Rights received 2,149 breach reports involving 176.4 million patient records.
By Meg Bryant • Sept. 27, 2018 -
Hackers exploit data in error messages to attack connected medical devices, report finds
Not all of the vendors notified of error message problems issued a patch, according to Zingbox.
By Meg Bryant • Sept. 27, 2018 -
Bipartisan opioid bill has IMD exclusion, expands MAT
The legislation, which also opens up non-addictive pain management alternatives and increases enforcement of illegal fentanyl, is expected to pass both houses as early as next month.
By Les Masterson • Sept. 27, 2018 -
Safety-net hospitals get break on FY19 readmission penalties, analysis finds
Some penalties are being cut by half or more, and 65 safety-net facilities that were penalized last year will see no dock at all this year, according to a data review by Kaiser Health News.
By Les Masterson • Sept. 27, 2018 -
AHA study finds hospital outpatient departments see sicker, poorer Medicare patients than independent docs
The research comes as CMS is proposing site neutral payment for hospital and nonhospital outpatient clinics.
By Meg Bryant • Sept. 26, 2018
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