Payers Latest News news and information

(Updated) The CMS released data showing U.S. hospitals charge widely varying amounts for the same services and also illustrating the significant variation in how much Medicare pays for those services.
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 »

The Alabama Legislature passed a sweeping revision to Medicaid that replaces the way the program delivers and pays for care with regional managed care operators.
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 »

A recent conference call reveals the extent to which a pipeline of valuable political insight exists between Capitol Hill and Wall Street, one that ordinary Americans and investors do not enjoy.
FULL STORY »

The recession's drag on health spending didn't fully explain the recent record slow growth in health spending, say studies that aim to identify what, if anything, suggests the slowdown may last.
FULL STORY »

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health researchers and the Commonwealth Fund are recommending a new Medicare option they say could reduce total health spending by $180 billion over 10 years.
FULL STORY »

HHS' inspector general's office is launching an in-depth investigation into cases where Medicare hospice beneficiaries get inpatient care, following unusual billing patterns that surfaced during recent research on the $1.1 billion industry.
FULL STORY »

A for-profit company that owns three hospitals in New Jersey said that it has formed a health system and is planning to offer a Medicaid plan and sell insurance on the state exchange about to launch under the healthcare reform law.
FULL STORY »