Michigan Insurance Commissioner Kevin Clinton has issued an order that the state will prohibit payors' preferential hospital pricing policies unless they meet his approval, according to a Detroit Free Press report.

In the second quarter of 2012, Moody's Investors Service recorded 12 credit downgrades within the non-profit hospital sector compared with nine upgrades, and the amount of downgraded debt also exceeded the dollar amount of upgraded debt.

Denver Health serves as the primary safety-net organization for both Denver and the state of Colorado, and Denver Health CFO Peg Burnette has found ways to keep the health system viable despite its challenging payor mix.

U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-Texas), has introduced HR 6142, the Assuring Medicare Stability and Access for Seniors Act of 2012, which would temporarily delay the sustainable growth rate for another year.

Colorado-Fayette Medical Center in Weimer, Texas, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to a Schulenburg Sticker report.

Roughly three out of five payors believe their organization will "definitely" be ready to meet the new ICD-10 compliance date of Oct. 1, 2014, according to a survey from HealthEdge.

The Government Accountability Office (pdf) recently issued a report on municipal bond issuers, finding that disclosures for municipal debt instruments could be improved.

Here are nine issues dealing with Medicare or Medicaid that occurred in the past week, starting with the most recent.

U.S. healthcare expenditures are at record highs. In 2011, national healthcare expenditures reached a cumulative total of $2.7 trillion — totaling nearly 18 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. To many, this is of concern, as the growing costs…

John Zell, CFO of OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, Ill., has been with OSF Healthcare for several years, and he still learns from the evolving healthcare budgeting process to this day.