A study backing a bill that would greatly increase nurse staffing in Illinois hospitals by mandating certain nurse-to-patient ratios has drawn heat from the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA).

Hospitals in the sixth most populous state stand to save $1.4 billion by collectively adding about 20,000 nurses.

Seven years from now, Medicare Part A will only be able to reimburse hospitals 89% of costs for hospital stays and related services. Twenty years later, the portion CMS can pay will fall to 77%.

More than 90% of healthcare consumers were surprised by a medical bill in 2018, while nearly three-quarters were confused by a bill’s content and more than half could not pay a bill in full if it totaled more than $1,000.

America’s opioid crisis cost the federal government some $26 billion in lost tax revenue and state governments $11.8 billion in lost revenue between 2000 and 2016, according to a recent analysis.

The primary care business is getting more crowded at the top, where the big money is.

CMS proposed to expand reimbursement for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) to patients with suspected masked hypertension while continuing to cover it for those with white coat hypertension.

The American College of Physicians (ACP) published a position paper April 16 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, voicing their discontent with recent federal actions to weaken the Affordable Care Act and offering seven recommendations on how to improve it.