news, journals and articles from all over the world.
A UCLA-led study shows that physicians frequently order preventive medical services for adult Medicare beneficiaries that are considered unnecessary and of “low value” by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — at a cost of $478 million per year.
Read moreThe Chiropractic Coverage Modernization Act (H.R. 2654), introduced April 19 in the U.S. House of Representatives, would increase Medicare coverage of services provided by doctors of chiropractic within the full extent of their state licensure, enabling chiropractic patients to conveniently and safely access needed care.
Read moreHealthcare providers, including Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs), will continue to receive resources to care for some of the most vulnerable patients with President Biden signing of H.R. 1186 to postpone a 2% cut to Medicare reimbursements for healthcare providers.
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“Near-poor” Americans – people just above the federal poverty level but still well below the average U.S. income – who rely on Medicare for health insurance face high medical bills and may forgo essential health care, according to new research.
Read moreLeaders of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) have asked Congress to prevent a 2% cut to Medicare reimbursements for healthcare providers effective March 31, 2021.
Read moreAs the U.S. population ages, more hospitals are implementing geriatric emergency department (GED) programs with specialized staff focused on transitional care for older adults. A new study finds that providing specialized geriatric emergency care results in lower Medicare expenditures up to $3,200 per beneficiary.
Read moreMedicare cuts to a million health care providers, many reeling from the economic impact of COVID-19, may cause practice closings, service reductions, job losses and decreased access to care. With the cuts to start Jan. 1, nearly 400 medical organizations and 329 members of Congress are calling to #StopTheCuts
Read moreThe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued a request for information regarding waivers declared during the COVID-19 pandemic, including one that removed physician anesthesiologists from anesthesia care and replaced them with nurses. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) urges Americans to protect older patients and those with disabilities by posting a comment to the Federal Register asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to rescind the temporary policy that lowers the standard of care and risks patients’ lives.
Read moreThe final 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule fails to avert the potential impact on seniors of payment cuts to more than a million health care providers already reeling from COVID-19’s financial impact. If Congress does not act now to address these changes, the results may be devastating for patients, communities and providers.
Read moreThe Medicare Physician Fee Schedule released today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will harm patients and further destabilize a health care system already under severe strain from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read moreToday, more than 60 healthcare stakeholders, representing Medicare providers, signed a letter urging congressional leaders to support bipartisan legislation that would implement the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) Calendar Year 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule as written.
Read morePresident-elect Joe Biden began transition planning with the announcement of a COVID-19 task force, continuing a focus on health care
Read moreThough the election and pandemic have eclipsed it in the news, there’s another event unfolding that could affect nearly all Americans: a Supreme Court case that will decide the future of the Affordable Care Act. A health policy researcher explains what would happen if it’s overturned.
Read moreRepresentatives Ami Bera, MD (CA-7) and Larry Bucshon, MD (IN-8), along with six lead co-sponsors, introduced legislation today that will protect patients’ access to surgical care by stopping cuts to Medicare payments for surgical specialties.
Read moreNew research led by Neda Laiteerapong MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University Chicago Medicine, indicates the real value of a scribe to a medical practice.
Read moreThe amount Medicare reimburses for orthopaedic trauma surgery has fallen by nearly one-third over the past two decades, reports a study in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
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The ACAAI PCACP model is a value-based care model that gives physicians specializing in asthma care the resources and flexibility they need to better diagnose and manage patients with asthma.
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DALLAS – Sept. 9, 2020 – The switch from brand name to generic cholesterol medications that occurred between 2014 and 2018 has saved Medicare billions of dollars, even as the number of people on cholesterol-lowering drugs has increased, UT Southwestern scientists have calculated. Their data, published in the journal JAMA Cardiology, suggest that policymakers and clinicians could help cut Medicare costs even further by switching more patients to generic drugs.
Read moreMedicare has proposed drastic cuts to its payment rates for important health care services, threatening the practices of physician anesthesiologists who have been on the front lines of the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) opposes these detrimental payment reductions, and urges Congress to take action to override the budget neutrality requirements that are the cause for these cuts and thereby ensure physician anesthesiologists can continue to care for their patients while being more fairly compensated for their work.
Read moreThe Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics thanks U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Gary Peters (Mich.) for their commitment to America’s health and their introduction of the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act. This bicameral, bipartisan legislation would provide coverage for Medicare beneficiaries to obtain treatment from registered dietitian nutritionists and other qualified nutrition experts for many common and costly chronic diseases.
Read moreInformation critical to a nationwide priority of reducing health care disparities among minorities is incomplete and inaccurate, according to a new Rutgers study
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Health insurance costs weigh heavily on the minds of many middle-aged adults, and many are worried for what they’ll face in retirement or if federal health policies change, according to a new study. More than a quarter of people in their 50s and early 60s lack confidence that they’ll be able to afford health insurance in the next year, and the number goes up to nearly half when they look ahead to retirement.
Researchers in the George Washington University Advanced Metrics Lab found that a hip fracture patient’s length of stay in a rehabilitation facility has a greater impact on functional independence than therapy time per day
Read moreAnalysis of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare rating system shows that hospitals serving vulnerable communities may be judged on social factors outside of their control.
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Residents of rural areas are more likely to be hospitalized and to die than those who live in cities primarily because they lack access to specialists, according to research in Health Affairs.
Read more• After a Medicare payment policy related to dialysis was implemented in 2011, use of home-based peritoneal dialysis increased significantly.
• Increases were seen for both “early” and “late” peritoneal dialysis: more patients initiated dialysis with peritoneal dialysis and more patients switched from hemodialysis to peritoneal dialysis.
New analysis casts doubt on effectiveness of Medicare payment incentive program as a way to curb hospital readmissions Study suggests drop in readmission rates observed after program launch likely stemmed from a broader decline in admissions rather than as a result of the program
The findings highlight the need for implementing policies in ways that allow their impact to be distinguished from other changes in health care
ASA today offered it medical expertise to the Trump Administration as it works to improve Medicare beneficiaries’ access to physician care, implement transparency and market-based reforms, while reducing cost and regulatory burdens as provided in President Trump’s Executive Order.
Read moreMost states reimburse less for spinal surgery in Medicaid patients, compared to Medicare reimbursement for the same procedures, reports a study in Spine. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
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