Government Affairs Breaking News news and information

The Obama administration issued the rules Monday to carry out a major hospital Medicaid cut, even as it is trying to delay the reduction scheduled to begin in five months.
FULL STORY »

An eight-year initiative aimed at improving healthcare quality and lowering costs has entered its final phase, and its director says the project's lessons could serve as best practices for healthcare providers across the nation.
FULL STORY »

The CMS and Medicare beneficiaries could have saved an estimated $510 million on drugs used to treat end-stage renal disease in 2011 if the reimbursement rate more accurately reflected current usage of these drugs, according to a report from HHS' inspector general's office.
FULL STORY »

Just ahead of Mother's Day, President Barack Obama on Friday spoke from the White House about the ways his signature healthcare law will help millions of American women and their families.
FULL STORY »

President Barack Obama is launching a new effort to rally the public around his hotly disputed healthcare law, a strategy aimed at shoring up key components of the sweeping federal overhaul and staving off yet another challenge from Republicans.
FULL STORY »

Individuals who act as navigators assisting consumers in applying for health coverage through state insurance exchanges should have extensive training and exam-based certification, the trade association for brokers and agents has told the CMS.
FULL STORY »

A California law that created an agency to oversee national healthcare reforms granted it sweeping authority to conceal its spending on contractors.
FULL STORY »

A controversial new proposal from the Urban Institute to help curb deficit spending by capping the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health coverage could save hundreds of millions of dollars annually, but skeptics say the savings would come at the expense of dramatically altering the health...
FULL STORY »

The spreading obesity epidemic, greater intensity of medical care and greater prevalence of chronic disease contributed the most to health spending growth during the better part of the last quarter century, according to new research released this week.
FULL STORY »

(Updated) A roadblock to the Senate confirmation of acting CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner was removed Tuesday when the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee lifted the hold he placed on the former HCA executive's nomination in April.
FULL STORY »