Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare Seeks To End Payment Disparities With New Plan For Hip, Knee Replacements
Marketplace: Medicare Tackles Disparities In Common Operations
Sometimes a knee or hip replacement costs Medicare – the health program for seniors and the disabled – $16,500. Sometimes it costs twice that. And quality is all over the map. Infection rates and failed knee or hip implant procedures can be more than three times higher in some facilities than others. (Gorenstein, 7/10)
The Fiscal Times: Medicare’s Bold New Move On Knee And Hip Replacements
After years of talk about developing ways to reduce the health-care costs, the Obama administration has hit on a solid idea that could reduce pricey Medicare knee and hip replacements. (Pianin, 7/10)
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Local Hospitals To Be Paid On Quality Of Knee, Hip Replacements
Getting a knee or hip replacement? How well you recover will soon determine how much money the hospital receives from Medicare to cover your bills. Federal health officials announced the new program last week and said it could boost patient outcomes and save the government more than $150 million over the next few years. It’s an ambitious program that is the newest piece of the government’s effort to tie payments to hospitals on quality, as opposed to quantity of services rendered. (Shapiro, 7/12)
Modern Healthcare: Stark Relief? CMS Proposals Could Ease Burden Of Self-Referral Law
The CMS' proposed changes to regulations governing financial relationships between physicians and other providers might make life easier for them in many areas but could also raise questions in others. The CMS released the proposed changes Wednesday as part of a draft update to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2016, which addresses a number of topics including the Stark law. The Stark law—which is widely criticized for its complexity—prohibits physicians from making referrals for services covered by government programs to entities in which they have financial interests unless they meet certain exceptions. (Schencker, 7/10)
