… [Read more...] about A Summary of the Presidential Candidates’ Stance on Healthcare
CMS Opioid Guidelines: A Catch 22?
Can you be fined and have action taken against your license for following CMS Opioid guidelines? According to Modern Medicine Network, you can: "In a recent case, the New Hampshire Board of Medicine investigated a physician who is board certified in pain management and anesthesiology after cutting back a chronic pain patient’s prescription opioid painkillers. The patient had been on a dosage of 80 mg of OxyContin twice daily and 30 mg of oxycodone four times a day for many years. … [Read more...] about CMS Opioid Guidelines: A Catch 22?
Employers Can Now Reimburse Employees for Individual Insurance Plans
New regulations have been finalized to allow employers to pay into employee accounts: The Trump administration finalized some new regulations late last week for those tax-preferred accounts. In short, employers can pay money into their employees’ health reimbursement accounts, and then the workers can take that money and use it to buy insurance on the individual market. Companies can alternatively pay into a different kind of HRA that their workers can then use to pay directly for … [Read more...] about Employers Can Now Reimburse Employees for Individual Insurance Plans
Proposed Congressional Bill Would Affect Ancillary Services
Proposed HR 2143, would prevent physicians from self-referring Medicare patients to in-office "ancillary services." According to the Congressmen who introduced the bill: “Multiple GAO studies have outlined the rampant abuse and waste of more than $3 billion of taxpayer money through Medicare reimbursement for unnecessary services that are driven purely by greed for personal profit,” Speier said in a statement. “Now is the time to improve the quality and … [Read more...] about Proposed Congressional Bill Would Affect Ancillary Services
State of the Union Address
During last night's State of the Union address, President Trump made health care "a consistent theme" in his speech. One area he stressed was drug prices and he vowed to take them on: “It is unacceptable that Americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs, often made in the exact same place. This is wrong, this is unfair, and together we will stop it. We will stop it fast,” he said. “I am asking the Congress to pass legislation that finally takes on … [Read more...] about State of the Union Address
Hospital Re-Admissions and the Elderly
The New York Times is writing about the ACA's Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program and the question of whether or not this is causing increased mortality among older patients. This should be of increased interest to nursing facilities since the refusal of readmission after a nursing home sends a resident to the hospital and subsequent death of the resident when returned to the facility may increase scrutiny of the nursing home rather than the correctness of a hospital refusing … [Read more...] about Hospital Re-Admissions and the Elderly
Backup Plan in the Event Obamacare Struck Down
A plan is being formulated by the Trump Administration in the event the lawsuit by states to strike down is successful: The Trump administration is formulating a backup plan to ensure that Obamacare customers can still get insurance if a state-driven lawsuit is successful in striking down the 2010 health law. Seema Verma, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, declined to give details of those plans or who might be covered, but the fact that planning is underway … [Read more...] about Backup Plan in the Event Obamacare Struck Down
