New Hampshire’s proposal to create work requirements for Medicaid went the same path as Kentucky’s and Arkansas’ did earlier this year, with a federal judge striking down the Section...
Federal Judge Richard J. Leon recently ruled in favor of an HHS final rule issued in August 2018 that made short-term health plans renewable for up to 36 months.
Short-term, limited-duration health...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics released its provisional report on drug overdose deaths, showing opioid overdoses declined by two...
A federal judge recently ruled in favor of a group of pharmaceutical companies challenging a new drug price transparency rule from HHS that required manufacturers to disclose wholesale acquisition cost...
President Trump’s regulation requires healthcare price transparency on treatment costs and price negotiations, the White House announced in a press release on Monday
“To make fully...
Enrollment of dual eligible individuals in Medicare Advantage (MA) has been “lagging” even with MA numbers projected to hit 70 percent between 2030 and 2040, according to a recent analysis...
The finalized rule on health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) contains two major changes compared to its earlier version.
Employers will be permitted to provide HRAs that are integrated with...
HHS and the CMS Innovation Center have announced a new payment model for emergency and ambulance services that will enable Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries to receive quality care with lower...
HHS has announced a proposal that would essentially eliminate the existing drug rebate process and instead encourage direct discounts to patients in an effort to control the costs of prescription...
The Departments of Labor, Treasury, and HHS have proposed a new rule that would allow employers to directly reimburse employees’ care costs through health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) as an...
BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) of Tennessee has been named a damaged party after it was defrauded $2 million as part of a larger $2 billion telemedicine insurance scheme, according to the Department of...
New high-profile Medicare fraud cases have led to convictions and lengthy prison sentences for providers that attempted to defraud Medicare of $36.9 million.
Federal agencies including HHS, the FBI,...
DaVita Medical Group has agreed to pay $270 million to the Medicare program after identifying suspect billing practices that incorrectly raised its Medicare Advantage payments, says the Department of...
CMS officially announced a six-percent decrease in Medicare Advantage premiums in 2019 as the result of MA enrollment, health plan options, and benefits increase. All signs point to the MA...
A bipartisan group of Senators has introduced legislation that aims to end surprise healthcare billing, a practice which can lead to extremely high out-of-pocket costs for consumers.
The Protecting...
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has questioned the data-driven methodology behind significant reductions in funding for the ACA navigator program and subsequent declines in new enrollment in...
CMS has announced that monthly Medicare Part D premiums are expected to fall from $33.59 in 2018 to $32.50 in 2019 as new policies to reduce Medicare’s drug costs take effect.
Earlier in 2018,...
Using generic drugs instead of their brand-name equivalents could have saved the Medicare Part D program approximately $3 billion in 2016 alone, according to new data from HHS.
A relatively small...
HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have announced the largest healthcare fraud takedown yet after HHS, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and other law enforcement agencies...
The US Senate Budget Committee has penned a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar urging the department to address approximately $89 billion in improper payments within Medicare and Medicaid.
The Senators...
