Policy news and information

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus opened the panel's first hearing in six years on Medicare physician pay with assertive rhetoric about scrapping the hated sustainable growth-rate formula this year. .
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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.
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Physician advocates see signs of progress in the Senate Finance Committee's hearing Tuesday—the panel's first in six years on replacing Medicare's physician payment system.
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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.
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Last week's public unveiling of CMS' charges and reimbursements data for about 3,000 hospitals across the country painted an unflattering portrait of the dramatic and sometimes mystifying variation between hospitals treating similar patients in similar markets.
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Just ahead of Mother's Day, President Barack Obama spoke from the White House about the ways his signature healthcare law will help millions of American women and their families.
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As Congress drafted elements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that would tie Medicare payments to quality metrics, the House of Representatives added a provision that would shield physicians from lawsuits tied to their failure to meet those marks.
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One of the most disturbing challenges faced by American healthcare is the enormous geographic variability in both access and quality. We are one nation, and no matter which state we live in, we are all Americans. But (to paraphrase Bono) where we live actually determines if we live.
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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.
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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...
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