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Insurers, employers, labor and consumer groups are pushing Congress to tweak Medicare payment policies.   The proposals, which fall under a policy known as site-neutral payments, would mean hospitals are paid the same amount for the same service, regardless of whether it’s provided in a hospital outpatient setting or at an independent physician’s office.   […]

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Pandemic preparedness advocates found things to like in the latest minibus, but also some worrying cuts. Why it matters: While most of the country (and much of Congress) has moved on from pandemics, advocates are trying to maintain readiness while a reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act remains stalled. What’s inside: The Labor-HHS portion of […]

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  Health care riders addressing PBM reforms and hospital transparency are due to be left out of the next government funding bill after congressional leadership quashed a committee-led effort to add them to the package, sources said. Why it matters: It punts bipartisan provisions that health committees in both chambers have worked on for months […]

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The hacking shut down the nation’s biggest health care payment system, causing financial chaos that affected a broad spectrum ranging from large hospitals to single-doctor practices. “This is worse than when Covid hit because even though we didn’t get paid for a while then either, at least we knew there was going to be a […]

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Tuesday said it will consider granting accelerated Medicare payments to affected doctors and hospitals on an individual basis, similar to a program that doled out $100 billion during the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s one of several ways the agency will try to help doctors and hospitals devastated by […]

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A package of six bills that needs to pass by Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown is drawing intense fire from conservatives in both chambers who are zeroing in on more than 6,000 earmarks buried in the package. The spending package was initially expected to pass easily but now faces a rocky path in […]

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Only a handful of health care provisions that mostly extend existing programs are likely to catch a ride on the next government funding package as the prospect of a shutdown looms, sources say. Why it matters: While there is not a final deal and the outlook could still change, a skinny package would be a disappointment […]

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  New talk about potentially ameliorating the hit to rural hospitals by adding rural exemptions to controversial site-neutral hospital policies is adding a wrinkle to the ongoing negotiations process. The hospital lobby is continuing its stern opposition to all site-neutral provisions, but some experts said the reforms are proving popular among voters, especially if an […]

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  Jefferson, the Philadelphia region’s largest health by number of hospitals, is aiming to break even in the full fiscal year. Torresdale Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia is among the 17 hospitalsowned Thomas Jefferson University.   Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health’s loss in the first half of fiscal 2024 was sharply lower than last year, […]

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  Third Way is calling on Congress to pass a national charity care law that would rein in hospitals’ debt collection practices, establish minimum requirements for charity care, and simplify how charity care is provided as part of a new report released Tuesday (Feb. 13). The center-left think tank points to data showing non-profit hospitals’ […]

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