Here are 14 issues dealing with Medicare or Medicaid that occurred in the past week, starting with the most recent.
1. Several New Hampshire hospitals asked for the federal government to intervene in the state's Medicaid program, calling the system "broken."
2. A recent poll by Harris Interactive/HealthDay found that 83 percent of Americans polled believed change is needed to keep Medicare "affordable and sustainable," but the majority of respondents opposed higher taxes or out-of-pocket costs as way to reduce the government's burden.
3. The Medicaid wave in Florida is beginning to crest, as the Florida Association of Counties — in partnership with 47 individual counties — filed a lawsuit over the state's new Medicaid billing law.
4. The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced legislative recommendations that would save the federal government $114 billion over the next ten years by cutting provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and some Medicaid measures.
5. Looking to abate a nearly $3 billion Medicaid deficit in the state's budget, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn proposed reducing by $250 million the amount of Medicaid dollars spent on children with special health needs, shifting the cost instead to parents' private health insurers.
6. CMS issued a proposed rule for hospitals paid under the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system and the long-term care hospital prospective payment system that would increase Medicare's operating payments to acute-care hospitals by about 0.9 percent — or roughly $904 million — in fiscal year 2013.
7. After scouring through their hospital reports, analysts at Moody's Investors Service listed the top 20 rated hospitals and health systems within their database that have the highest combined Medicare and Medicaid business as a percentage of their gross revenue.
8. As Illinois continues to tread water in relation to its finances, state Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka released her quarterly report, showing the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services is holding an estimated $2 billion in Medicaid bills.
9. The Medicare Board of Trustees released its annual report this week, and it showed the hospital trust fund, or Medicare Part A, has an insolvency date of 2024.
10. A new report from the Urban Institute concluded that spending growth in Medicare and Medicaid is heavily affected by enrollment, and the spending growth in both programs on a per enrollee basis is not "out of control" as some groups may suggest.
11. The CMS Office of the Actuary released a report, indicating the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will achieve short-term savings in Medicare of more than $200 billion through 2016
12. The Government Accountability Office released a report recommending HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius cancel the Medicare Advantage Quality Bonus Payment Demonstration, which is expected to cost $8.35 billion over 10 years.
13. CMS announced it added the first data from the "spending per hospital patient with Medicare" measure to the Hospital Compare website.
14. Washington state legislators approved a budget agreement that provides $8.8 million for a new emergency department policy for Medicaid patients.
1. Several New Hampshire hospitals asked for the federal government to intervene in the state's Medicaid program, calling the system "broken."
2. A recent poll by Harris Interactive/HealthDay found that 83 percent of Americans polled believed change is needed to keep Medicare "affordable and sustainable," but the majority of respondents opposed higher taxes or out-of-pocket costs as way to reduce the government's burden.
3. The Medicaid wave in Florida is beginning to crest, as the Florida Association of Counties — in partnership with 47 individual counties — filed a lawsuit over the state's new Medicaid billing law.
4. The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced legislative recommendations that would save the federal government $114 billion over the next ten years by cutting provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and some Medicaid measures.
5. Looking to abate a nearly $3 billion Medicaid deficit in the state's budget, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn proposed reducing by $250 million the amount of Medicaid dollars spent on children with special health needs, shifting the cost instead to parents' private health insurers.
6. CMS issued a proposed rule for hospitals paid under the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system and the long-term care hospital prospective payment system that would increase Medicare's operating payments to acute-care hospitals by about 0.9 percent — or roughly $904 million — in fiscal year 2013.
7. After scouring through their hospital reports, analysts at Moody's Investors Service listed the top 20 rated hospitals and health systems within their database that have the highest combined Medicare and Medicaid business as a percentage of their gross revenue.
8. As Illinois continues to tread water in relation to its finances, state Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka released her quarterly report, showing the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services is holding an estimated $2 billion in Medicaid bills.
9. The Medicare Board of Trustees released its annual report this week, and it showed the hospital trust fund, or Medicare Part A, has an insolvency date of 2024.
10. A new report from the Urban Institute concluded that spending growth in Medicare and Medicaid is heavily affected by enrollment, and the spending growth in both programs on a per enrollee basis is not "out of control" as some groups may suggest.
11. The CMS Office of the Actuary released a report, indicating the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will achieve short-term savings in Medicare of more than $200 billion through 2016
12. The Government Accountability Office released a report recommending HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius cancel the Medicare Advantage Quality Bonus Payment Demonstration, which is expected to cost $8.35 billion over 10 years.
13. CMS announced it added the first data from the "spending per hospital patient with Medicare" measure to the Hospital Compare website.
14. Washington state legislators approved a budget agreement that provides $8.8 million for a new emergency department policy for Medicaid patients.
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