Health Jan 22 Many of the hospitals awarded Medicare bonuses won’t be able to collect Medicare is giving bonuses to a majority of hospitals that it graded on quality, but many of those rewards will be wiped out by penalties the government has issued for other shortcomings, federal data show.
Health Dec 01 Marketplace competition is keeping health premium increases smaller A surge in health insurer competition appears to be helping restrain premium increases in hundreds of counties next year, with prices dropping in many places where newcomers are offering the least expensive plans, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis…
Health Jun 23 Hospitals face punishment in Medicare crackdown During a hernia operation, Dorothea Handron’s surgeon unknowingly pierced her bowel. It took five days for doctors to determine she had an infection. By the time they operated on her again, she was so weakened that she was placed in…
Health May 08 Hospitals boost patient safety, but more work is needed Two major safety shortcomings in America’s hospitals—the frequency with which patients get hurt during their stays and the large number who are readmitted—have decreased as government penalties and other programs targeting them kick in.
Health Apr 10 Medicare officials hope release of data will help identify waste and combat fraud Medicare’s release Wednesday of millions of records of payments made to the nation’s doctors comes as the government is looking to find more cost-efficient ways to pay physicians, particularly specialists.