The No Surprises Act (NSA) banned balance billing, where patients were required to pay the balance between what doctors [they did not choose] charge versus what their health plans are willing to pay for a service. In that regard it was relatively effective. Unfortunately, balance bills are not the only surprises patients encounter. At least in theory, patients have some protection from outrageous bills if they ask for a quote several days in advance.
Category: Medicare
Friday Links
- How the war of words over vaccines is affecting doctors and patients.
- When it comes to cognitive capacities, the 70s are indeed the new 50s: A person who was 70 in 2022 had the same cognitive health score as a 53-year-old in 2000.
- New RFK rule would pay specialists less and primary care doctors more.
- CMS: the health care sector will grow faster than GDP — growing from 17.6 percent of GDP in 2023 to 20.3 percent in 2033.
- 80% of the money nonprofit hospitals get through public tax breaks is not being used for charity care.
- Paragon: health provisions in the BBB.
- The Valley of Death, with the median time from FDA approval of a novel technology to Medicare coverage is 5.7 years.
NYT: Medicare to Curtail Abusive Spending on Hyper-Expensive Bandages
Going after Medicare abuse is like playing whack a mole. Just when you think you have made some headway another mole pops out. The Biden Administration, and now the Trump Administration, is moving to limit the use – and limit the price paid – for so-called skin substitutes in Medicare. Skin substitutes are newfangled bandages.
Medicare to Finally Go After Waste, Fraud and Abuse
Medicare has a long way to go, but perhaps the agency is moving in the right direction.