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Prescription for more efficient care
In 2011, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield launched a program to reward physicians who provide better, more coordinated care to patients the company insures.
Medicare providers complain of duplicative audits
Health care companies say they're losing millions of dollars that are tied up in appeals because of increasing numbers of Medicare audits.
Settling a suit? Don’t forget Medicare’s share
Personal-injury and defense attorneys trying to reach a settlement must remember that the federal government always wants to be paid first and is not choosy about where the money comes from, particularly in cases involving Medicare-eligible plaintiffs.
Ruling: Medicare may cover sex reassignment
Medicare can no longer automatically deny coverage requests for sex reassignment surgeries, a federal board ruled Friday in a groundbreaking decision that recognizes the procedures are medically necessary for people who don't identify with their biological sex.
Health care costs slowed during Obama’s first term
WASHINGTON — Even as his health care law divided the nation, President Barack Obama’s first term produced historically low growth in health costs, government experts said in a new report Monday. While the White House sees hard-won vindication, it’s too early to say if the four-year trend that continued through 2012 is a lasting turnaround […]
Roberts refuses to grant Obamacare emergency stay
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has refused a group of doctors’ request to block implementation of the nation’s new health care law. Chief Justice John Roberts turned away without comment Monday an emergency stay request from the Association of American Physicians & Surgeons, Inc. and the Alliance for Natural Health USA. They asked the chief […]
Dialysis centers face payment cuts
Tracey Mooney is not looking forward to 2016. As chief financial officer for an organization that operates dialysis centers across Maryland, she expects to have some tough decisions to make about two years from now, when her industry could face crippling reductions in Medicare payments.
Feds say Md. owes millions for not billing drug companies for rebates
WASHINGTON — Maryland may have to refund the federal government up to $5.8 million it received as reimbursement for prescription medication through Medicaid and Medicare, after it failed to properly bill pharmaceutical companies for rebates. A recent audit of Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ […]
Builders of Obama’s health website saw red flags
WASHINGTON — Crammed into conference rooms with pizza for dinner, some programmers building the Obama administration’s showcase health insurance website were growing increasingly stressed. Some worked past 10 p.m., energy drinks in hand. Others rewrote computer code over and over to meet what they considered last-minute requests for changes from the government or other contractors. [&helli[...]
State seeks to change hospital rate system
The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene submitted a landmark proposal to the federal government on Friday that, if approved, would completely change the way hospitals in Maryland get paid.
Md. health exchange delayed in opening
The opening of Maryland’s online health benefit exchange was delayed Tuesday by problems with the exchange website, and the state’s health secretary said a technical team was working on a solution to a bottleneck that developed when the website couldn’t handle the volume of people trying to create accounts all at once. Dr. Joshua Sharfstein […]
Under fire, ‘Obamacare’ going live _ with glitches
WASHINGTON — Contentious from its conception, President Barack Obama’s health care law has survived the Supreme Court, a battle for the White House and rounds of budget brinkmanship. Now comes the ultimate test: the verdict of the American people. A government shutdown could dampen the rollout Tuesday as insurance markets open around the country. But […]
