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. 

ACR

ACR helps NIH exceed funding goals for 2018

The American College of Radiology (ACR), along with more than 300 stakeholder organizations that form the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, exceeded its 2018 funding goals with the $1.3 trillion federal budget signed March 23 by President Donald Trump.

April 3, 2018
ACA

How Iowa’s new law gets around ACA insurance requirements

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation into law to allow health plans that don’t comply with Affordable Care Act regulations with a new kind of strategy: Defining some insurance plans as something other than health insurance.

April 3, 2018

5 things to know about final Medicare Advantage, Part D rule for 2019

CMS has finalized its rule for 2019 rates for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D, giving insurers a bigger-than-expected rate increase while finalizing proposals on expanded supplemental benefits and efforts aimed at fighting opioid addiction.

April 3, 2018

Doctors suing Atrium Health will be allowed to leave system

In a lawsuit aimed at allowing a physician practice to break away from the region’s dominant health system, physicians at the Mecklenburg Medical Group (MMG) have accused Charlotte’s Atrium Health of monopolistic practices that have been harmful to patients and go against its nonprofit mission. Atrium responded by saying the 92 doctors who want to leave will be allowed to do so.

April 2, 2018
Robert Redfield, MD

New CDC director: We can end AIDS epidemic within 7 years

In his first all-staff meeting as director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, MD, predicted the U.S. could end the AIDS epidemic with tools already available. He also committed the agency’s policies to be rooted in scientific evidence.

April 2, 2018
Sutter Health logo

Sutter Health sued by California for alleged anticompetitive practices

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced his office has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Sacramento-based Sutter Health, alleging the system used its dominance in Northern California to unlawfully raise prices for services and then used the profits reaped from these practices to grow even larger.

March 30, 2018
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5 legislative, regulatory priorities for hospitals in 2018 and beyond

The failure to pass funding for reinsurance and cost-sharing reduction subsidies for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges and the potential for pharmaceutical-backed changes to the 340B drug discount program are just some of the major issues on the American Hospital Association’s radar this year, according to executive vice president of government affairs Tom Nickels.

March 30, 2018
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WSJ: Walmart in talks to buy Humana

In the latest example of an outside force making a move into healthcare, retail giant Walmart—the largest company in the world by revenue—is reportedly in preliminary discussions to acquire health insurer Humana, according to the Wall Street Journal.

March 30, 2018