The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have proposed changes to Medicare payments that would significantly reduce payments to many physicians and hospital outpatient healthcare services. The changes in policy would also increase the wage index (the degree to which payments are adjusted based on regional average wages) for low-income hospitals, like those found in many rural areas, while decreasing the wage index for higher-income hospitals. The move is set to gradually reduce the payments to hospital-owned, off-campus clinics over the course of two years, which CMS predicts will save Medicare more than $800 million per year. Continue reading “CMS Proposes Cuts for Hospital-Owned Outpatient Services”
Tag: healthcare costs
Hospitals Must List Prices for Medical Procedures
The Trump administration recently announced that, in an act of transparency, hospitals must openly post online a database specifically detailing the exact cost for a specific medical procedure, effective January 1. NBC News reported that the idea is to let patients know what the final cost will be once they are admitted to a hospital. Continue reading “Hospitals Must List Prices for Medical Procedures”
