Health Spending

Subscribe to Health Spending

On May 3, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published an 81-page final rule to both extend and change the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model. We previously reported on the proposed rule here. The CJR model was initially implemented by way of notice-and-comment rulemaking in April 2016; the recent…

Congressional panels continue to focus on federal health care policy topics, including cost, quality, and program integrity issues. Recent hearings have included the following:

…

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released its 2015 Data Book on Health Care Spending and the Medicare Program. The publication provides information on national health care and Medicare spending, Medicare and dual-eligible beneficiary demographics, Medicare quality, and Medicare beneficiary liability, along with Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D drug program data. The report…

On January 28, 2015, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report entitled “Private Health Insurance: Geographic Variation in Spending for Certain High-Cost Procedures Driven by Inpatient Prices.” In the report, the GAO examines: (1) how spending per episode of care for certain high-cost procedures varies across geographic areas for private payers, and…

Recent Congressional health policy hearings have addressed the following issues:

  • The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on generic drug pricing;
  • The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee focused on its concerns associated with transparency in passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act in a hearing featuring CMS

…

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released its 2014 Data Book on Health Care Spending and the Medicare Program. The volume provides detailed information regarding national health care and Medicare spending and utilization, sector profit margins, Medicare and dual-eligible beneficiary demographics, Medicare quality, Medicare beneficiary and other payer liability, and related issues.

President Obama has signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, which provides $1.012 trillion in discretionary funding for the operations of the federal government through September 30, 2014. In addition to setting overall funding levels for HHS agencies, the law specifies funding for numerous HHS policies and initiatives, such as additional funding…

The ACA’s controversial Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) is charged with submitting detailed proposals to Congress and the President to reduce Medicare per-capita spending if projected spending growth exceeds a specified target based initially on inflation and then growth in the economy. IPAB’s proposals will go into effect automatically unless Congress enacts alternative legislation to…

The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee has held a hearing entitled “CLASS Cancelled: An Unsustainable Program and Its Consequences for the Nation’s Deficit.” The panel also has scheduled a November 2, 2011 hearing entitled “Do New Health Law Mandates Threaten Conscience Rights and Access to Care?”

The GAO has issued a report entitled, “Health Care Price Transparency: Meaningful Price Information is Difficult for Consumers to Obtain Prior to Receiving Care.” According to the GAO, consumer difficulties in obtaining meaningful medical pricing information stem from both health care factors (such as the difficulty of predicting health care services in advance,…

On April 8, 2011, President Obama and Congressional leaders announced an agreement on the outline of a spending bill to fund the government through the rest of FY 2011 (until September 30, 2011). The final FY 2011 continuing resolution cuts an additional $38.5 billion in federal spending over the remainder of the year, including new…

President Obama has signed into law a short-term spending bill (H.J.Res. 44) that keeps the government funded through March 18, 2011 while Congressional leaders try to reach agreement on a spending package for the rest of fiscal year 2011 (through September 30, 2011). The latest stop-gap bill includes $4 billion in spending cuts, including reductions…

The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing entitled “The Consequences of Obamacare: Impact on Medicaid and State Health Care Reform.” In addition, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held hearings on the FY 2012 HHS budget and implementation of the ACA. On March 2, three Congressional panels held hearings on health care…