December 2009

This Month's Features

  • December 31, 2009 | COMMENTS ()

    CMS 2010 payment proposals disappoint hospitals, physicians

    Unless Congress acts, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) plans a 21.2 percent Medicare pay cut for physicians beginning Jan. 1, 2010.

  • December 31, 2009 | COMMENTS ()

    RAC program rolls out nationwide

    Now that the Medi­care Recovery Audit Contractor, or RAC, program is rolling out nationwide, officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services say they want to make the program less burdensome for providers.

Industry News

  • HHS issues final ICD-10 code sets

    Diana Manos

    In January of this year, the Department of Health and Human Services released the long-awaited ICD-10 codes and extended the compliance date for adopting them from Oct. 1, 2011 to Oct. 1, 2013.

  • Physicians saw success with P4P in 2009

    Healthcare Finance News Staff

    A five-year pay-for-performance project involving 10 large physician practices across the country demonstrated increased revenue savings and improved quality of care, according to results released this year.

  • Feds released additional $268 million for state hospital support

    Jack Beaudoin

    In a boon for safety-net hospitals, the federal government increased its allotment for “Disproportionate Share Hospitals” by an additional $268 million in 2009.

  • Medicare trust fund to be exhausted by 2017

    Richard Pizzi

    The Medicare trust fund will be exhausted by 2017, two years earlier than originally projected, according to the annual report released in summer 2009 by the Medicare Trustees.

  • Medicare Advantage under siege

    Diana Manos

    Medicare Advantage, a program that offers HMO-type coverage for Medicare beneficiaries, was strongly criticized by President Barack Obama in 2009.