The meaningful use provisions of the stimulus bill provide incentive payments to providers who implement EMRs, and ultimately penalties for those who don't or who don't use those systems in…
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The Office of Actuary publishes its current estimate of national health spending in the wake of health reform. It finds that the law will slightly increase spending, but there is…
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Fall is a lovely time of year and what could be better than relaxing with a Potpourri, featuring health insurance increases, the true costs of EHRs, hospital pay-for-performance programs and…
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Medicaid programs, and other third-party payers, can save a lot of money by requiring use of generics when available. Some state laws, however, can significantly inhibit generic use, according to…
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In a sign that the media is less willing to accept some of the Administration's misleading pronunciations about health care, when HHS claimed that the Medicare Trustee's report showed the…
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Every year Medicare puts out very lengthy and detailed proposed, and ultimately final, rules updating the reimbursement for all of the classes of providers--physicians, hospitals, etc. While reading these is…
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There has been no more gnarly health care problem for Congress than how to deal with physician reimbursement. At some point, as a Health Affairs article points out, it will…
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More commentary on MedPAC's Annual Report, focusing on the care of dual-eligible beneficiaries and the use of shared decision-making in the Medicare population.
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MedPAC's annual report always contains many useful analyses of health care issues, complete with research citations. This year's report covers several topics of general interest, including effective benefit designs and…
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For several decades drug companies have taken a beating over their pricing and many governments have limited how those companies charge for their products. A new study suggests that such…
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HHS has issued its draft regulation on what preventive services health plans must cover without cost-sharing by the patient. Someone, of course, has to pay for all these "free" services,…
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