On July 8th as reported by the American College of Radiology, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed rule for federal fiscal year (FY) 2014 changes to Medicare’s Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS). For 2014, CMS is proposing to use FY 2011 cost data to establish separate cost centers for computed [...]
Despite delaying for a year the health insurance mandate for large employers, the Obama administration is opposing two Republican-backed bills that would make the administrative move law and expand the delay to individuals and the penalties for noncompliance. Read more about it.
Sony Salzman, MassDevice Oncall, reported, July 8th on the remarks of Jeff Mirviss regarding the Medical Device Tax and its devastating impact on the medical device industry. Read it here.
July 10, 2013, The Wall Street Journal, LAURA MECKLER, JENNIFER CORBETT DOOREN and PETER NICHOLAS When Obama administration officials delayed a central plank of the new health law—requiring that big employers offer health insurance to workers—they said it was to help businesses pleading for more time. Left unsaid was the federal government hadn't written key [...]
Evan Godt, HealthImaging reports on an article appearing in this month's Journal of the American College of Radiology, which examines the accuracy of reported decline in patient imaging over recent years. The authors speculate about the decline in imaging and the impact of increased patient/physician encounters. The authors recommend that policy makers know what the [...]
The growth rate in healthcare industry jobs outgrew other industries by ten-fold, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution. Read the report here.
In case you missed the news the PPACA (Obamacare) took an interesting turn over the Independence Day Holiday. Without anyone paying much attention a British company was chosen to manage the roll-out of Obamacare. Irony may not quite describe what happened but it appears the government is struggling to meet its own deadlines. Read about [...]
As insurance companies and care providers form ACOs to provide a changed patient care model they are learning much about technology, patients and altered payment systems. Read about it here
At least one respected commentator has predicted that the global market for refurbished medical equipment will be worth $8.45 Billion by 2017. This market will include diagnostic imaging equipment, surgical devices, ra diation oncology equipment and biotechnical equipment. While the definitions of 'refurbishing' and 'remanufacturing' are very much the subject of debate, industry players typically concede that these [...]
Here are some key facts about the medical device excise tax from our general counsel Robert Kerwin.