Policy & Regulations

This channel includes news coverage of healthcare policy and regulations set by Congress, the states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and medical associations and societies. 

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Trump summons top officials after drug prices rise

President Trump summoned top officials for a meeting at the White House on Jan. 8, Politico reported. The meeting comes as major drugmakers raised prices at the start of the year, prompting a Twitter response from the president.

The surprising, aggressive billing practices of Zuckerberg Hospital

Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, the largest public hospital in the city, sticks patients with sky-high medical bills because it does not partner with any private health insurance plans, Vox reported.

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Cigna, Tenet reach agreement on brink of network coverage lapse

Cigna and Tenet announced “good news” on Jan. 1 after reaching an agreement on a new commercial contract. The previous contract between Cigna and Tenet was scheduled to end on New Year's Day, after both companies struggled to come to a new agreement over nearly a year of negotiations.

New transparency rule requiring hospitals to post prices confuses patients

A new federal policy took effect on Jan. 1 that requires hospitals to post standard prices online. However, the rule, which intends to boost transparency, may be causing more confusion than clarity for patients, according to reports.

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Insurers pocketed more than $9B in taxpayer funds over 10 years

From 2006 to 2015, insurance providers kept $9.1 billion more in taxpayer funds than they would have if their estimated cost forecasts for drug spending through Medicare had been more accurate. This eye-popping statistic comes courtesy of an in-depth report published Jan. 4 by the Wall-Street Journal.

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Healthcare employment soared through end of 2018

The healthcare industry took the lead as the largest employer in the United States in 2018, with high rates of job growth continuing through the end of the year, according to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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WSJ: Private insurers kept $9B in cash from Medicare

Health insurers have been inflating cost estimates for providing prescription-drug benefits to more than 40 million Medicare beneficiaries, allowing them to cash in $9.1 billion in extra payments from 2006 to 2015, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

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Participating in a CMS pay-for-performance program? Consider reporting as a group

Radiology practices who hope to achieve success in CMS pay-for-performance programs should consider group participation rather than each radiologist participating as an individual, according to new research published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.