Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) news and information

Taken together, the ACA delivery system reforms have significantly shifted the national discussion among healthcare leaders. They are now universally focused on improving quality while lowering costs.
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For 20 years, the CMS has not applied the federal ban on physician conflicts of interest known as the Stark law to Medicaid claims. It's focused on Medicare only. But private whistle-blowers have begun pressing for clarity on the issue because a 1993 law applying Stark to Medicaid remains on the...
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Many private and public health insurers are violating federal rules for the rapid electronic handling of queries for information about patients' coverage, according to insurance claims transmission experts.
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With the complicated state health insurance exchanges going live in October, CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner has a lot to think about at the end of the day.
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The federal government has indicated there are problems with the system Washington state uses to deliver mental health services, and officials say hundreds of millions of dollars could be at risk unless changes are made.
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Several years ago, Leake Memorial Hospital, a critical-access facility in rural central Mississippi, was on the verge of closing and was looking for a buyer when its officials discovered that the publicly run hospital was sitting on a time bomb.
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The CMS has issued its final Medicare 2014 payment rule for inpatient stays at acute-care hospitals and long-term care facilities.
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Hospices are slated to receive an increase in their Medicare payments in the coming fiscal year under a final rule issued Friday by the CMS.
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Policy experts say Medicare must stop covering procedures that do little to improve patient health or are not worth the price tag. Washington state is making the tough choices.
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Eight out of 10 eligible hospitals and 58% of eligible physicians and other medical professionals have received payments totaling $15.5 billion under the federal electronic health record incentive payment program, according to the latest CMS data.
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