Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Texas Whistleblower Says Medicare Advantage Plans Overstate Home Visit Charges
NPR/Center For Public Integrity: Whistleblower Says Medicare Advantage Plans Padded Charges In Home Visits
A whistleblower case in Texas accuses a medical consulting firm and more than two dozen health plans for the elderly of ripping off Medicare by conducting in-home patient exams that allegedly overstated how much the plans should be paid. (Schulte, 8/12)
CQ Healthbeat: Revised Dialysis-Subsidy Rules Fall Short, MedPac Says
About 30 dialysis centers stand to lose a Medicare subsidy intended to keep a treatment for people with failing kidneys widely available. But the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission argues that proposed changes to payment rules should be tightened even more. In June, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services unveiled a proposal to refine the rules for a program designed to support little-used dialysis centers. The subsidy, known as the Medicare low-volume payment adjustment, is intended to help clinics that provide fewer than 4,000 dialysis treatments a year stay in business while facing higher-than-average operating costs. (Young, 8/11)
