HHS posts Medicaid Expansion rules
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on Monday (12/10/12) that states that fail to expand their Medicaid programs to include residents at 133% of the federal poverty level will not be eligible to...
View ArticleBundled payments for orthopedic procedures
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) has implemented a bundled payment program with a fixed rate for all services 30 days before and 90 days after knee replacements provided by the...
View ArticleMissionPoint ACO in Nashville demonstrates that the model works
Tennessee-based MissionPoint Health Partners is showing the country that after the first year of operations, health care costs can be reduced using the ACO model that promotes care and case management....
View ArticleMaryland Health Enterprise Zones – targeting cost and access to care
In January, Maryland launched a four-year $16 million pilot project that designates five Health Enterprise Zones (HEZs) across the state. Five community coalitions with residents who are economically...
View ArticlePioneer ACOs post gains in first year of operations
Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations now have a year of operations behind them, and the results have demonstrated the ability for the model to slow rising costs and improve quality. In a press...
View ArticleUnited Healthcare’s ACO effort set to grow in next 5 years
UnitedHealthcare, the national payer based in Minnetonka, MN announced that it expects to increase its accountable care health plan contracts that link quality to reimbursement from present levels of...
View ArticleCMS pays primary care incentives
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services paid $664 million to doctors, nurses, and other providers under the Medicare Primary Care Incentive Program (MPCIP). Payment began in 2011 with...
View ArticleCommercial ACOs save money
ACOs like those implemented in Massachusetts can save money for consumers and government payers within two years of initiating operations according to a paper published in JAMA this week. McWilliams...
View ArticleFed Economists explain trend in part-time employment
In a blow to critics of the PPACA, researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco published findings this week that current part time employment levels are consistent with levels at similar...
View ArticleRand study suggests PPACA will not increase insurance premiums
A study by the Rand Corporation published this month online suggests that the effects of PPACA on insurance premiums should be favorable. The analysis used a microsimulation model for ten states...
View ArticleHealth Affairs: Effects of PPACA on employer health insurance expected to be...
Tom Buchmueller and his colleagues at the University of Michigan are the authors of an article in this week’s edition of Health Affairs detailing the expected changes in employer health plans resulting...
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