A view from the Center

CMS’s updated quality evaluation formula leads to more 5-star hospitals

The number of top-rated hospitals in the US quadrupled—from 83 to 337—after the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revised the methodology behind its Hospital Quality Star Rating system. At the same time, twice as many hospitals landed on the low end of the ratings spectrum.1

Under the revised methodology, which CMS implemented in December,

The president’s executive order on health care: Not repeal, but is it a big deal?

On October 12, the White House issued an executive order directing the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Treasury and Labor to consider promulgating new rules – or reinterpret existing ones – to affect the small group and individual insurance markets with the stated goal of expanding consumer choices. Since its release, quite a bit of information (and some misinformation) has come out about the order’s potential impact on the markets.

In health care, we’ve learned to expect the unexpected

“Uncertainty” is probably an overused word in our communications these days. But we haven’t found a better term to describe the political, policy, and marketplace outlook surrounding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and ongoing efforts from Congress and the administration to repeal and replace significant chunks of that landmark statute.

As of this writing,

As Congress pushes for Medicaid change, could a version of Reagan’s grand bargain simplify the program?

Medicaid is in the eye of a political hurricane – encircled by swirling forces that could dramatically reshape the program. The Republican-led Congress is pushing to roll back the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion and fundamentally change the nature of the program’s state/federal partnership by placing limits on the federal government’s contribution to the program.

As House Republicans celebrate the AHCA, Senators begin to roll up their sleeves

House Republicans were celebrating on May 4 after passing the American Health Care Act (AHCA), albeit by a narrow 217-213 margin. Republican lawmakers have been promising to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) since it was enacted seven years ago.

But on the other side of the Capitol building that afternoon,

Where we stand 103 days into the new administration

Last week’s news spent considerable time analyzing the new administration’s first 100 days, including questions about a renewed effort to repeal and replace elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Repealing and replacing the ACA has been a signature issue for Republican leaders for the past seven years. The American Health Care Act (AHCA),