Payers Featured Content news and information

A new report from the Institute of Medicine may finally put to rest the idea that policymakers should adopt a geographically based value index to set Medicare reimbursements, a proposal favored by providers and members of Congress in regions that have high-quality, low-cost care.
FULL STORY »

While state-run health insurance exchanges have reported that premiums for 2014 health plans generally will be lower than for comparable 2013 products, congressional Republicans and others have questioned whether that will hold true for exchanges in the 35 states where the federal government will...
FULL STORY »

Asking 15 experts to solve a $200 billion-plus problem that has stymied federal lawmakers for decades seems challenging enough. Add to that task a deadline of less than three months, a bitterly divided Congress and a battle-weary administration.
FULL STORY »

Two days before Independence Day, the Obama administration launched a firecracker of an announcement: It would delay by a year the employer mandate set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2014.
FULL STORY »

In an era of rising scrutiny of cardiac care, physicians are learning that their legal fates may hinge on one number—70%.
FULL STORY »

Private health insurance exchanges are growing and increasingly are being pitched to small employers. They are geared toward employers that buy fully insured products as well as self-insured firms.
FULL STORY »

Nearly a year to the day after the Supreme Court ruled the reform law constitutional, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius launched her department's public awareness and outreach campaign.
FULL STORY »

A growing number of experts fear the rising popularity of high-deductible insurance plans could backfire and undermine the accountable care movement.
FULL STORY »

Federal officials are looking to scale back the use of long observation stays believed to be a response to Medicare auditors cracking down on inappropriate admissions.
FULL STORY »

Managed care rapidly gained and quickly lost favor more than a decade ago, but even as it lost ground, it never fully lost a hold in the market. Now, it's an increasingly popular option among seniors enrolled in Medicare, and some managed-care tenets—care coordination led by primary care and...
FULL STORY »