Legal & Regulatory Issues

Beginning July 1, premiums for new federally run high-risk insurance plans will be slashed in efforts to spur enrollment while states gear up to launch their respective health insurance exchanges, according to a Kaiser Health News report.

The Texas Legislature has approved a two-year budget that cuts the state's spending by $15.2 billion and includes cuts in Medicaid payments to hospitals, according to a Star-Telegram report.

Democratic Congressional leaders have rallied group of supporters to determine a strategy for combating Republicans' plan to cut Medicaid funding by $750 billion and transition it to a block-grant program for states, according to a report by The Hill.

The Washington States Supreme Court has ordered the state's Department of Social and Health Services to reverse cuts to Medicaid benefits for certain children covered by the program, according to a KING5 NEWS report.

Illinois' Medicaid program has begun enrolling some 40,000 seniors and disabled individuals into private health plans provided by Aetna and IlliniCare in efforts to close the state's deficit gap, according to a Chicago Tribune news report.

Cleveland Clinic researchers have found that patients who undergo a facelift after the age of 65, if screened properly, are at no higher risk for complications compared to younger patients, according to a Cleveland Clinic news release.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has proposed a rule that would issue disciplinary action for ONC-approved accreditors who engage in improper conduct or who do not perform responsibilities under the permanent electronic health records certification program.

John Roberts, MD, professor and chief of transplant surgery at the University of California-San Francisco, has been elected to be vice president of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United Network for Organ Sharing board of directors, according to a hospital…

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has signed into law legislation that moves the state toward a single-payor health system, according to a New York Times report.

A budget proposal by Senate Republicans that would have converted Medicare to a subsidized program for the private insurance market was defeated yesterday, according to a New York Times report.