Fidel Castro’s Health Care Legacy
By David Blumenthal MD – Fidel Castro’s passing on November 25 is a vivid reminder of the outsized role that he and Cuba have played in the history and imagination of the United States.
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The Promise and Pitfalls of Bundled Payments
By David Blumenthal MD & David Squires -Plans to expand bundled payment models in the Medicare program are one of several new payment alternatives in Medicare and Medicaid designed to hold health providers accountable for the cost and quality of care.
ACA Marketplaces: Stressed but Fixable
By Sara R. Collins & David Blumenthal, MD – Negative headlines in the past few weeks seem to suggest deep trouble for the ACA marketplaces. Several insurance plans have requested double-digit premium increases for 2017.
Health Care Improving in Many Communities as ACA Expands Access and Promotes Quality
Health care in many U.S. communities got better between 2011 and 2014, although persistent wide variation indicates there is room for improvement across the country, according to a Commonwealth Fund report.
New Directions for Medicare Physician Payment
By Jordan Kiszla & Rachel Nuzum – HHS issued a proposed rule to implement MACRA. Congress passed this bipartisan legislation last year to replace the sustainable growth rate formula (SGR)—which tied the growth of Medicare physician payments to growth in the economy—with an approach that rewards high-performing providers and supports alternative payment models.
Do Small Physician Practices Have a Future?
By David Squires & David Blumenthal MD – There’s a lot to absorb in the proposed rule for implementing “MACRA”—the sprawling, bipartisan law passed in 2015 aimed at moving Medicare physician payment from rewarding volume to rewarding value. One question attracting scrutiny is whether the reforms will favor larger practices at the expense of smaller ones.
The Medicaid Managed Care Rule: The Major Challenges States Face
By Sara Rosenbaum – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services introduced a final Medicaid managed care rule establishing a new regulatory framework for the next generation of managed care. A policy watershed, the rule ultimately will touch the lives of tens of millions of low-income children and adults, and individuals with disabilities.
What Will Happen to Medicaid Beneficiaries If Kentucky ‘Dis-Kynects’?
By Sara Rosenbaum – Kentucky Governor Matthew Bevin has proposed to end Kynect, his state’s highly popular health insurance marketplace, and replace it with the federal marketplace, HealthCare.gov. HHS recently signaled that the federal government would decide whether the governor may proceed, and under what conditions, by June 1.
Caring for Flint
By Sara Rosenbaum – It’s fair to say Flint, Michigan, is facing a public health catastrophe: Thousands of city residents, including as many as 9,000 children, may have been exposed to toxic levels of lead through contaminated water. While the problem was entirely preventable, the question now is what will be done for its victims.