Kaisernetwork.org – Feb. 23, 2009. President Obama on Thursday plans to announce his FY 2010 budget proposal, which will include funds for health care programs, the Wall Street Journal reports (Bendavid, Wall Street Journal, 2/19). The Obama “administration is not prepared to submit a full budget, complete with the thick volumes of appendices and historical […]

HealthLeadersMedia.com – Friday, February 20, 2009. Since last fall, many of the leading figures in the nation’s healthcare debate have been meeting secretly in a Senate hearing room. Now, they appear to be inching toward a consensus that could reshape the debate. Many of the parties, from big insurance companies to lobbyists for consumers, doctors, […]

HealthLeadersMedia.com – February 23, 2009. The only hospital in Clayton County, GA, is trying to fill 80 vacancies and recruit back physicians and patients who have taken their business to other area hospitals. Southern Regional Health System’s interim chief executive said progress has been made since last month, when officials had to beg the county […]

HealthLeadersMedia.com – February 23, 2009. The federal stimulus package is expected to lead to termination of a state plan to tax hospital revenues. The addition of $1.73 billion in stimulus aid for the state Medicaid program has almost certainly killed the proposed levy on hospital revenues, according to legislative leaders and healthcare industry officials. A […]

HealthLeadersMedia.com – Feb. 24, 2009. When President Obama included money in his economic stimulus plan to help people identify the most cost-effective medical care, he set off one of the sharpest, and most unexpected, political fights of his young administration. The “comparative-effectiveness” issue was supposed to help lay the groundwork for the broader reform effort. […]

FierceHealthIT – Feb. 23, 2009. The Congressional Budget Office projects that such incentives will push up to 90 percent of US physicians to use EMRs over the next 10 years. Practices that don’t adopt CCHIT-certified EMR systems by 2014 will have their Medicare reimbursement rates … Read Full Article

Enterprise-Record, CA – Feb. 22, 2009. … it is currently experiencing several problems, including the inequities of Medicare Advantage plans and a pending 21 percent cut in reimbursement rates to physicians, which will make it almost impossible to find a doctor who accepts Medicare. … Read Full Article

ToTheCenter.com – Feb. 21, 2009. The issue of crimes related to Medicare fraud is the subject of two of the charges while four of the charges have to do with mortgage and financial related activities. The full list follows: 1. Miami: Physicians and Medical Workers Charged in $10 … Read Full Article

San Jose Mercury News – Feb. 20, 2009. In fact, Medicare reimbursement has become such a frustrating factor in the local health care industry that doctors like Nicholas Abidi have been forced to change their business model to maintain their practice. patients than their peers in Santa Clara … Lower reimbursements force specialist to expand […]