KUVE— Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas began a new policy Monday to stop paying certain emergency room claims if they don’t consider the visit necessary. So how does the procedure work, and how can patients lower the odds of...
Greensboro News & Record– Children with diabetes face a lifetime of challenges. However, if insurers continue to exclude more and more diabetes-related medications and supplies from coverage, children with diabetes and their families could be saddled with a lifetime of...
Fierce Healthcare– The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule on Thursday making what officials called “historic changes” to the Medicare program aimed at restoring the doctor-patient relationship. Read more here.
Axios Vitals– Doctors burn out just like the rest of us — but with much more dire consequences. A new study published yesterday in Mayo Clinic Proceedings finds that physician burnout is rampant, and contributes to major medical errors. By...
Fierce Healthcare– With more patients being stuck with surprise medical bills for out-of-network providers, one health policy expert says Congress needs to do more to halt the practice entirely. “I think this is an outrage,” Ashish Jha, M.D., director of...
Modern Healthcare– Two Minnesota healthcare giants have agreed to what will be a first on both sides: a unique, five-year contract that will include downside risk and the elimination of some prior authorizations. Rochester-based Mayo Clinic and Eagan-based Blue Cross...
The New York Times– In my more exasperated moments of residency, I must admit I was envious not only of what my supervising doctors knew, but also who they treated. Residents in our clinic, doctors in training just out of...
Medical Economics– In this environment, it should come as no surprise that for the second straight year, the 2018 Medical Economics Payer Scorecard shows that physicians are greatly dissatisfied with the policies payers implement, many of which cost them both...
Becker’s Hospital Review– The Mercatus Center within Fairfax, Va.-based George Mason University released its June 2018 update report on patient access to healthcare. The Healthcare Openness and Access Project reviewed state health data to draw comparisons on states’ healthcare flexibility. The ranking...
Healio– Despite the availability of highly effective direct-acting antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus infection, both public and private health insurers in the United States continue to deny coverage for the drugs at increasingly high rates, according to a...