Month: January 2024

January 30, 2024

MICHAEL MCAULIFF   

If anyone were to ask members of Congress if doctors should be contending with Medicare pay cuts after a pandemic and a period of extraordinary inflation, and amid a chronic physician shortage, nearly all would say no.

Yet, that is what happened on Jan. 1, and even powerful lawmakers who would like to ease or reverse that cut can’t promise it will happen, even after recent actions to forestall hospital cuts and to extend expiring healthcare programs such as federally qualified health centers.

January 25, 2024

TIM BRODERICK 

Imagine after purchasing a car the salesperson slaps the hood and says there’s a 40% chance in the coming year that an unauthorized person will gain access to it or just outright steal the car.

Now imagine the car is an individual’s healthcare data. 

November 02, 2023

ALISON BENNETT  

Physicians will be hit with a 1. 25% reduction in Medicare reimbursements next year under a final rule the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued Thursday.

The American Medical Association and other doctor groups sharply criticized the proposed rule CMS published in July, which contained the same pay cut, and have taken their case to Congress that Medicare fees for physicians should not be reduced.

January 18, 2024

ALISON BENNETT  

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is testing a new community-based behavioral health services model that aims to improve access and quality, the Health and Human Services Department announced Thursday.

Under the Innovation in Behavioral Health Model, physical and mental healthcare providers will form interprofessional care teams with community organizations, which will coordinate care for Medicare and Medicaid enrollees with mental illnesses and substance-use disorders.

January 04, 2024

MARI DEVEREAUX   

Hospitals purchased by private equity firms have higher rates of adverse patient safety events than other facilities, according to a recent study, and its authors said the findings could be indicative of how the acquisitions affect hospital operations.

The study published in JAMA found hospital-acquired conditions like surgical infections and pressure ulcers increased by 25% among Medicare patients at private equity-owned facilities compared with a control group of hospitals.