The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today proposed changes to policies and payment rates for services to be furnished during calendar year (CY 2010) by over 1 million physicians and nonphysician practitioners who are paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). The MPFS sets payment rates for more than 7,000 types […]

Increases in physicians’ overall compensation in both primary and specialty care did not keep up with inflation in 2008, according to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Physician Compensation and Production Survey: 2009 Report Based on 2008 Data. Physicians in primary care reported a 2 percent increase (-1.73 percent adjusted for inflation) to a median […]

The Senate Commerce Committee has found that a flawed payment database produced by a UnitedHealth subsidiary and distributed to other major insurance companies has led insurers to underpay millions of out-of-network claims, forcing patients to make up the difference of health care providers’ fees, the Wall Street Journal reports. Aetna, Cigna, WellPoint, and other large […]

The White House released a transcript of President Barack Obama’s town hall meeting today on health care. It was held at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia. THE PRESIDENT:  Good to see you guys.  Thank you, everybody. Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you, Northern Virginia.  Thank you very much.  What a wonderful welcome.  And I’m […]

President Barack Obama pitched his health reform proposal Wednesday at a town hall meeting in Annandale, Va., asking the public and Congress to deliver on health care reform.  Click title to read more… The Associated Press reports that Obama put “a human face” on health care reform by hugging a cancer patient, but gave few new details […]

When it comes to surviving Recovery Audit Contractors, effective physician advisors can be a “saving grace,” according to Elizabeth Lamkin, CEO of Hilton Head Regional Hospital, a Tenet hospital in South Carolina. Lamkin spoke at the recent Healthcare Financial Management Association’s annual conference in Seattle last week. An ineffective program, however, just won’t do.  Click […]

CMS released further information Wednesday on its RAC Web site letting healthcare providers know when they can expect RACs to begin auditing. The new “CMS RAC Review Phase-in Strategy,” details different types of reviews and dates when CMS anticipates the reviews will begin in various areas of the country.  Click title to read more… The […]

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that the administration will rescind all or part of three Medicaid regulations that were previously issued and delay the enforcement of a fourth regulation. Each of these rules, in whole or in part, had been subject to Congressional moratoria set to expire on […]

HHS hasn’t released any significant news around HIPAA regulations since its draft guidance on unsecure protected health information April 17, but that does not mean it is time to sit idle. Major regulations surrounding breach notifications on PHRs by the Federal Trade Commission and unsecure PHI by the Department of Health and Human Services are […]