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. 

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Washington implores parents, providers to catch kids up on regular doctor visits

So many parents have held children back from visiting clinicians’ offices during the COVID crisis that CMS is issuing an urgent call to action: Please hold them back no more.

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Nursing homes using hospitals as middlemen to bounce low-reimbursement, high-maintenance residents

A common tactic is sending off Medicaid-covered seniors with dementia following emergency “psychotic” episodes. When psychiatric wards and hospitals quickly discharge the patients, the nursing homes refuse to take them back in.

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Rand study suggests hospitals are exorbitantly overpaid by private insurers; AHA reacts

In real dollars, these payers’ combined savings would have nearly reached $20 billion just in 2018, the analysis shows.

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Lawmaker ‘deeply concerned’ over $250M HHS contract for coronavirus-related PR work

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., worries the agency is using taxpayer funds to fuel the commander-in-chief’s bid for a second term. 

Alleged Stark violations, kickbacks to cost hospital $50M

A 223-bed acute care institution with a medical staff of nearly 300 physicians has agreed to pay $50 million over allegations it deliberately submitted ineligible claims to Medicare and profited handsomely by these actions.  

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4 hurdles thwarting AI from conquering clinical practice

AI will not earn a place in the daily practice of medicine until its developers definitively answer some pressing questions on fitness and appropriateness.

Researchers clarify: Don’t dismiss the neck gaiter as a facemask failure

Remember the Duke study that seemed to suggest a neck gaiter can spread more COVID than no mask at all? Its authors now say their findings were misconstrued. Gaiters may be OK after all.

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Standard operating procedures start chugging back to life at Medicare, Medicaid

As part of its Monday announcement, CMS released inspection guidance for state agencies and a toolkit for nursing homes.

Around the web

Compensation for heart specialists continues to climb. What does this say about cardiology as a whole? Could private equity's rising influence bring about change? We spoke to MedAxiom CEO Jerry Blackwell, MD, MBA, a veteran cardiologist himself, to learn more.

The American College of Cardiology has shared its perspective on new CMS payment policies, highlighting revenue concerns while providing key details for cardiologists and other cardiology professionals. 

As debate simmers over how best to regulate AI, experts continue to offer guidance on where to start, how to proceed and what to emphasize. A new resource models its recommendations on what its authors call the “SETO Loop.”