More Scrutiny Coming For Medicare Advantage, Obamacare
The Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said it would review Medicare Advantage billing practices with an eye toward curbing overcharges.
Medicare
Medicare Offers Relief To 400,000 Caught In Drug Plan Mix-Ups
Aetna beneficiaries can reconsider their Part D choices after the insurer incorrectly identified some pharmacies as being in-network, dropped others and removed some from the preferred network.
Cleveland Hospitals Grapple With Readmission Fines
The Cleveland Clinic has seen its Medicare penalties go down, while those paid by hospitals that serve many of Cleveland's poorer residents have gone up.
Medicare Looks To Speed Up Pay For Quality Instead Of Volume
The administration wants to tie more of Medicare's spending on health care to quality and to encourage doctors and hospitals to be more frugal in their spending.
Hospitals' Medicare Quality Bonuses Get Wiped Out By Penalties
Medicare is giving hospitals financial incentives to provide better care. But so far about half of the hospitals that got incentive payments found them canceled out by other quality programs.
Early Test Of An Obamacare Experiment Posts Little Progress
Community groups getting federal funds to reduce hospital readmissions made little improvement, an early evaluation finds. The experiment will run for five years.
Prolific Prescribers Of Controlled Substances Face Medicare Scrutiny
In the face of abuse concerns, Medicare covered more prescriptions for potent controlled substances in 2012 than in 2011. Top prescribers often have faced disciplinary action or criminal charges.
Can I Keep My Marketplace Insurance If I Enroll In Medicare?
While you can keep your private plan after you join Medicare, it may not make much sense financially. For one thing, you'd be disqualified from receiving marketplace premium subsidies.
Teaching Hospitals Hit Hardest By Medicare Fines For Patient Safety
Medicare will cut payments to hospitals with high rates of patient infections and injuries. Half of the nation's academic medical centers will be docked for making too many medical mistakes.
Upfront Costs Of Going Digital Overwhelm Some Doctors
Physicians with small practices may be especially hard hit by federal regulations that aim to bring doctoring into the digital age in 2015.