The American Medical Association (AMA) on Thursday took the unusual step of writing to Congress to express its disappointment in the current proposal to pay for a permanent repeal of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula by delaying the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that individuals must purchase insurance or pay a penalty.

Although the proposed cuts to the Medicare Advantage program announced last month were not as deep as some had feared, the opposition mounted by the insurance industry and legislators has been fierce.

WALTHAM, MASS.--Harvard Pilgrim Health Care completed its ICD-10 assessment in 2011 and began detailed planning in 2012, said Rita Hunt, the organization’s ICD-10 program manager, speaking at the Massachusetts Health Data Consortium’s March 10 conference on ICD-10 planning.

Long-term post-acute care (LTPAC) and behavioral health (BH) entities remain ineligible for Meaningful Use incentives, yet one-third of patients discharged from hospitals end up in these facilities.

The bill H.R. 4188, the Establishing Beneficiary Equity in the Hospital Readmission Program Act, would require the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to adjust the readmission penalty based on a hospital’s share of dual eligible patients.

The Telecommunications Industry Association offered up its support for a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposal that would require Medicare Advantage organizations to provide remote monitoring technologies as part of mandatory supplement benefits.

The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services is launching an investigation into Maryland’s health insurance exchange, which has been marred by computer glitches that have made it difficult for people to enroll.

Employment in health care changed little in February, reports the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This marks the third consecutive month of almost no change in employment in the industry.