Every dollar hospitals spend on inaccurate Medicare audits and appeals are dollars lost that should have been used to care for seniors. We are here to discuss the problems facing hospitals today, but also to find solutions that bring sense to our Medicare program and improve care for America’s seniors.     Today’s hearing will examine hospital issues—including those related to… Read more

Emphasis on the Medicare two-midnights policy, short inpatient stays, outpatient observation stays, auditing and appeals House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) today announced that the Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on current hospital issues in the Medicare program, with an… Read more

Then: Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius: “I think premiums are likely to go up” – Ways and Means Committee Hearing on the FY2015 Budget, March 12, 2014   Now: “Carriers Opting for Premium Hikes That Will Pinch Consumers' Pocketbooks” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2014 ### Read more

Washington, DC - Today, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement on the April jobs report. “The increase in jobs is certainly welcome news after the very troubling GDP numbers earlier this week.  However, when we look at all the data, it is clear we need to be making much bigger gains both in terms of jobs and economic growth.  That… Read more

"First, if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job…. nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have.  Let me repeat this: Nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have."  (President Obama to a Joint Session of Congress, September 2009) The… Read more

Every dollar lost to Medicare fraud is a dollar stolen from America’s elderly.  And every dollar lost to improper payments – intentional or not – robs from the solvency of this important program.   Today’s hearing will examine the issue of Medicare fraud.  This is a bipartisan concern shared by our seniors, the Medicare program and lawmakers on this… Read more

By Sarah E. Needleman and Angus Loten Many small businesses won a reprieve from having to provide health insurance under the Affordable Care Act… Read more

House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) today announced that the Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on Medicare waste, fraud, and abuse, with a focus on the policies that address these problems.  This hearing will allow the Subcommittee to hear directly from the U.S. Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services… Read more

Today’s hearing will examine two very important and complex regulations implementing reporting requirements of the Affordable Care Act’s mandates on local businesses and workers.     These regulations are long overdue. Businesses have been forced to wait four years since the passage of the law for the Treasury Department to finalize these rules.   In the meantime the… Read more

Today, CMS outlined the ObamaCare cuts to Medicare Advantage (MA) as part of its 2015 rate notice.  While CMS relented on several administrative changes that would have layered on top of the ObamaCare cuts scheduled to hit, it remains clear that these cuts will negatively impact seniors who will feel the harsh realities of the MA cuts.  However, as the Wall Street Journal… Read more