Advocates for Medicare beneficiaries have asked Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mark B. McClellan to make the drug benefit's appeals process work "more fairly and efficiently" before the 2007 enrollment period begins. Read more »
Give a bunch of brainy people lots of options for how to solve a knotty problem and you might stimulate their imaginations to come up with a particularly good solution. But the message coming out of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) was to expect no miracles when the problem to be solved is how to replace the controversial Medicare physician payment formula. Read more »
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission said that a new Medicare payment system for drugs traditionally administered by doctors in their offices is in some cases causing them to refer patients elsewhere for treatment. The impact of the shift on the quality of care patients receive is unknown because of a lack of data on the issue, according to a commission study. Read more »
Many states have begun to increase the number of people covered by Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, according to a new report from the National Governors Association. Read more »
Health care spending per privately insured American rose by 7.4 percent in 2005, the same rate of increase as the previous two years, according to a Center for Studying Health System Change study. Read more »
Two new strategies for controlling Medicaid costs could undermine the health of Medicaid beneficiaries, warns a recent analysis by George Washington University Health Policy Department Chair Sara Rosenbaum. Read more »