The Medicaid market could be the silver lining in the economic storm cloud that has settled over health plan enrollment in the U.S. according to research conducted by Mark Farrah Associates (MFA), a leading provider of market data and intelligence solutions. Faced with increased unemployment and a continued decline in the employer-sponsored healthcare market, major [...]
Kindred Healthcare, Inc. announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued late on May 29, 2009 proposed regulatory changes regarding Medicare reimbursement for long-term acute care (“LTAC”) hospitals. First, CMS issued an interim final rule in which CMS is revising the relative payment weights that would apply to all discharges occurring between [...]
A group of major employers, insurance companies, third party administrators and lawyers have joined together to form the Medicare Advocacy Recovery Coalition (MARC), a broad-based group to advocate for Medicare Secondary Payor reform. The group has selected Roy Franco from Safeway and Katie Fox from MedInsights, Inc. to lead the coalition.
“Our goal is to make [...]
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt and Lieutenant Governor Gary Herbert urged seniors to review and compare their current Medicare plans to ensure they have the best coverage. The annual open enrollment period, which kicked off on November 15 and runs through December 31, gives beneficiaries the opportunity to enroll in or make changes to their [...]
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt and North Dakota Governor John Hoeven today urged seniors to review and compare their current Medicare plans to ensure they have the best coverage. The annual open enrollment period, which kicked off on November 15 and runs through December 31, gives beneficiaries the opportunity to enroll in or make changes to [...]
MAXIMUS announced that its MAXIMUS Federal Services subsidiary has been awarded a one-year contract by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to process appeals for the Medicare Part A program. The initial contract is valued at approximately $4.1 million and includes two option years for a total contract value of $13.1 million [...]
In a case of national significance, a California appellate court has invalidated a Medicaid payment freeze on the grounds that, in adopting the freeze, the California Legislature failed to follow federal Medicaid notice and comment requirements.
“We believe this to be the first case in the nation invalidating a Medicaid rate provision under federal notice and [...]
San Jose’s newest Medicare health plan, CareMore, a Medicare Advantage Plan with Part D Prescription Drug benefits, has been named the only Medicare health plan in the San Jose area to be recognized with the 2009 Senior Choice Gold Award based on the value of the Medicare benefits offered to beneficiaries.
CareMore recently received approval from [...]
Medicare beneficiaries trying to sort through their healthcare options for 2009 should welcome new rules designed to protect them against overly aggressive marketing tactics by some insurance companies and their agents, according to Allsup, a leading provider of Social Security disability, financial and healthcare-related services to people with disabilities.
“People need information to make an informed [...]
Ovations, UnitedHealth Group’s health and well-being company for seniors, issued the following statement regarding broker commission rates:
“We welcome further action by CMS to regulate broker commissions. Earlier this year we voiced support before the Senate Finance Committee in favor of regulation to levelize broker commissions. We would also welcome regulation that establishes reasonable industry-wide broker [...]
