After a fairly quiet year in terms of new funding announcements, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has released an $840 million solicitation that seeks to drive 150,000 clinicians toward delivering value-driven care. Billed the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative or TCPI, the core of the …
Dems Call for Hearing on Costs of Hep C Drug Sovaldi
June 19, 2014 Leave a Comment
Dialing up the issue of high-cost medications, Rep. Henry Waxman, the lead Democrat on the House Energy & Commerce Committee and Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado are calling today for a hearing into the impact Sovaldi will have on Medicare spending. The letter references new data out of Georgetown University …
Battle Over Cost of Drugs Ratchets Up
May 30, 2014 Leave a Comment
The battle over the rising costs of drugs, fueled by Gilead's Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi that costs $84,000 for a 12 week treatment regimen, intensified this week. Critics of the cost have taken to referring to the drug as the "1,000-a-day" pill. Earlier this week, the National Coalition on Health Care launched its …
Finally…CMMI announces first dozen HCIA Round 2 Awards
May 22, 2014 Leave a Comment
After much delay, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) today announced a dozen awards under its Health Care Innovation Award (HCIA) Round two competition. The $1 billion funding competition sought proposals focused on reducing Medicare and Medicaid expenditures and proposing new payment models. …
Oh Baby: Medicare Wants to Focus on Early Elective Deliveries
May 21, 2014 Leave a Comment
Deep within the proposed FY 2015 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule released a few weeks back is an interesting proposed new measure to the Medicare hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) program - elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks gestation. When most people think of Medicare, delivering …
First of Two HHS Secretary Confirmation Hearings Set
April 28, 2014 Leave a Comment
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will kick off the vetting of HHS Secretary-designee Sylvia Matthews Burwell with a confirmation hearing on May 8th. Burwell, currently the head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), will also have to go before the Senate Finance Committee in the …