- CMS expands competitive bidding in Medicare. “The first phase of the program was successfully implemented for nine product categories in nine areas of the country on Jan. 1, 2011. To date, CMS monitoring data have shown a successful implementation with no changes in beneficiary health status. Today, CMS released the detailed schedule for Round 2 bidding. Registration will begin on December 5, and the 60-day supplier bidding period will begin in late January of 2012. ” – CMS
- Medicare to open up database for consumer and employee access. “In particular, the federal agency will relax its restrictions on the release of information about individual doctors who participate in Medicare, the $524 billion federal program for the elderly and disabled, reversing a three-decade position that doing so would violate physicians’ privacy rights. – Wall Street Journal
- Arizona court upholds Medicaid enrollment freeze: “Challengers had argued that the freeze violates a voter-approved 2000 law increasing eligibility in the Medicaid program. The law had also required the Legislature to pay for the increase by using ‘any other available’ money to supplement dollars from tobacco industry payments.” – MSNBC
- Gaps persist in state Medicaid spending: “On the other end, the 10 lowest-spending states — Utah, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, Texas, Colorado, Arkansas, California and Alabama — had lower average income and, by extension, more residents who were uninsured. Yet they also tended to have younger populations that were healthier overall, with lower rates of obesity and fewer smokers, the report noted.” – Governing