CMS news from FierceHealthFinance
News
On the verge of historic reform, CMS still has no chief
Passing a bipartisan health reform package is only the first hurdle. Implementing it will be a herculean leap, especially since CMS is still without an administrator. When appointed, the new CMS... Read more...
Profits put health plans in difficult spot
Nobody would suggest that health insurers shouldn't be profitable. But during the past year of reform ferment--with health plans targeted as villains--things got a bit tense for plans that posted... Read more...
Florida shares RAC battle stories
Wondering what it will be like to bear the full force of the Recovery Audit Contractor program? Florida hospital execs can tell you; they've already been with the program for three years as part of... Read more...
CMS may not pay for certain PET scans starting March 2010
CMS wants to stop paying for positron emission tomography (PET) scans to diagnose cancer that has spread to the bones, according to a Nov. 30 memo. The agency memo cited insufficient evidence to show... Read more...
'Take the RAC program very seriously,' Florida hospitals warn
Florida hospitals had a front-row seat to the genesis of the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program due to the Sunshine State's participation in the three-year RAC demonstration project.... Read more...
CMS plans November 'town hall' on Medicare denial appeals
CMS has announced plans to hold a so-called "town hall meeting" in November to share information on appeals of Medicare payment denials. While CMS intends to address denials under Section 935 of the... Read more...
Dell, post-EMR launch, buys Perot Systems; Providers content with Medicare payment contractors
> Not long after launching its own EMR, Dell has acquired healthcare business solutions provider Perot Systems in a deal worth almost $4 billion. Article > A new survey by CMS concludes that... Read more...
Medicare hands out $12M in hospital quality bonuses
The 230 hospitals that took part in the CMS/HQID value-based purchasing project raised their overall quality by an average of 17.2 percent during the fourth year of the project on delivery of 30... Read more...
Administration plans Medicare cuts to imaging, specialists
In another reflection that the primary care "medical home" model is being taken seriously, the Obama administration announced last week that it planned to cut Medicare payments for imaging services... Read more...
HFMA ANI 2009: News and advice from the RAC front
It's not enough that Medicare's Recovery Audit Contractor program is going into full swing--CMS is also making some changes as it steams into its national rollout. Here's an update on some of the... Read more...
