By Shefali Luthra – A growing number of primary care doctors, spurred by the federal health law and frustrations with insurance requirements, are bringing a service that generally has been considered “health care for billionaires” to middle-income, Medicaid and Medicare populations.
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By Michelle Andrews – In addition to treating what ails you, a number of health care systems aim to sell you a health insurance plan to pay for it. With some of the most competitively priced policies on the marketplaces, “provider-led” plans can be popular with consumers.
By Julie Appleby – UnitedHealthcare said it will expand its high-profile test of whether bundled payments for chemotherapy can help slow rising cancer treatment costs, part of a growing effort by insurers to find new ways to pay for care.
By Anna Gorman – California and the federal government agreed in concept Saturday on a $6.2-billion deal to reform the Medicaid program and to help pay for care of the low-income population. The largest share of the funds – nearly $3.3 billion – is aimed at helping public hospitals improve the safety and quality of patient care.
By Julie Rovner – Medicine, meet Big Data. For generations, physicians have been trained in basic science and human anatomy to diagnose and treat the individual patient. But now, massive stores of data about what works for which patients are literally changing the way medicine is practiced.
By Jordan Rau – Medicare’s quality incentive program for hospitals, which provides bonuses and penalties based on performance, has not led to demonstrated improvements in its first three years, according to a federal report released October 1, 2015.