The Department of Child Safety is in the process of reducing barriers to behavioral health services for kids in foster care, as well as delivering an integrated model with its recent contract award to Mercy Care.
Arizona will be the first state...Arizona News
In a letter to Sonora Quest Laboratories (SQL) last week, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office requested that laboratories halt claims about the turnaround time for test processing. The letter cited the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, stating that the claims about testing times violated the law.
Assistant Attorney General Joshua...Arizona News
Arizona suffered a dramatic outbreak of COVID-19 in June, the effects of which were felt throughout July. This week, cases appear to be subsiding, but the state has other complications that may cause more difficulties on the path to becoming COVID-19 free.
A story from CNN last week said that John’s Hopkins University data...Arizona News
Cigna is charged with falsifying the health conditions of its Medicare Advantage plan members, essentially scamming CMS out of larger payments to cover the cost of care for beneficiaries diagnosed through the insurer's medical assessment program.
Last year the Office of Inspector General undertook a study because it suspected...
Both Arizona teens were denied coverage for chest reconstructive surgery despite the procedure being recommended by doctors as necessary treatment for dysphoria.
Gender dysphoria is a medical condition related to the process of gender transition. Dysphoria comes from a discomfort or lack of identity with physical signifiers of sex...National News
The third in a series of CMS created toolkits, the report features innovative strategies Medicare ACOs use to help primary care and specialty providers in the ambulatory setting improve healthcare quality and patient outcomes.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) designs the reports for public consumption to help...
Last Wednesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a new payment model that will use upfront and capitated payments for accountable care organizations (ACOs). Called “the Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART),” the Model will focus on ACOs and organizations in 15 rural communities with a...
Magellan Complete Care of Arizona is a managed care organization providing integrated care to about 34,000 AHCCCS Complete Care (ACC) members across Arizona's central geographic service area (GSA) of Gila, Pinal and Maricopa counties.
On April 30, 2020, Magellan Health and Molina entered into a Stock and Asset Purchase Agreement. The...
Kaiser and Centene's net income more than doubled, Anthem, Humana and UnitedHealth Group profits came close to 100%; according to Modern Healthcare, analysts regard Q2 insurer profits as an anomaly even as the seven biggest publicly traded insurers reported combined profits of $17 billion in the three months ending June 30, an increase...
The American Academy of Physician Assistants' 2019 salary and compensation numbers are reported in the organization's 2020 AAPA Salary Report released August 3, 2020.
According to the report, the PA profession continued their upward trend last year with national median base compensation at $111,000 across all compensation...
Local school districts will be guided to reopen by the number of coronavirus cases in their county per capita, the percent of positive cases from testing and the percentage of people hospitalized with COVID-19.
Community spread in each Arizona county will be broken down into "minimal, moderate or substantial" categories.
AZDHS...
The CMS proposal is getting mixed reactions from providers; some are expecting payment increases, others are anticipating losses and almost everyone is expecting the expansion of telehealth will be here to stay.
On Monday, August 3, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed the physician fee schedule (PFS), which...
During President Trump's Coronavirus Briefing on Wednesday, he referred to Arizona as "a model for applying a science-based approach to the decreasing cases and hospitalizations without implementing a punishing lockdown."
On Wednesday, Arizona also reported 87 new known COVID-19 deaths, and assigned those deaths to the appropriate...
With 27 million people newly uninsured due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the simultaneous economic collapse, the case California v. Texas looms large over the conversation of national healthcare.
A study by ASU and commissioned by the Children’s Action Alliance released this week analyzes the pros and cons of a potential...
President Trump issued the executive order Monday to support healthcare in rural areas by permanently expanding some telehealth services beyond the COVID-19 pandemic; the proposed 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule released on Tuesday by CMS also expanded the list of telehealth services Medicare covers.
According to the White...
The cut hits therapists providing services for patients in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) whose care is covered by Medicare Part B and room and board by Medicaid.
Therapists warned the cut under the 2021 Proposed Physician Fee Schedule could potentially have a “devastating impact” if it goes into effect.
On Monday, CMS...
Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned a decision that said the Trump administration did not have the authority to reduce subsidies from Medicare for the 340B Drug Pricing Program.
The 340B program allows hospitals to buy medications at large discounts, but many have objected to this...
A study designed to help Medicare officials determine if brain scans would be worth covering for Alzheimer’s patients determined that it would not be able to curb healthcare costs.
Advocates still hope they will be able to persuade the agency to support this type of testing but the agency determined it did not support an...
The new 50,000 square feet, 40-bed facility is scheduled to open next winter in Gilbert.
The partners first hospital, Dignity Health East Valley Rehabilitation Hospital in Chandler, opened in 2016. The new hospital features all private rooms and acute rehabilitation services.
Providers will focus on acute rehabilitation for...Arizona News
Nursing homes, hospices, and inpatient psych facilities are getting some long overdue attention and can expect to see pay bumps come Oct. 1, albeit slightly less than previously proposed by CMS.
The final rule finalizes a 2.2% increase in overall payments to skilled nursing facilities in fiscal 2021. CMS says this means payments...
The findings were reported in the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey for the week of July 16-21. The 20-minute online survey is conducted weekly and studies how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting households across the country from a social and economic perspective.
Chosen randomly to participate, Arizonans answered questions about...
The only fully comprehensive heart failure treatment center in Arizona now operates out of Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix.
Banner University Medical Center Phoenix (BUMCP) was approved to perform heart transplants at the end of 2019 by the United Network for Organ Sharing (a private, nonprofit organization that manages...
Chandler, Phoenix, Peoria and Tucson sites are part of Moderna's nationwide trial - none are affiliated with hospitals or research universities.
AZ Central reported three sites are at a private research company called the Hope Research Institute, with locations in Chandler, Peoria and Phoenix and Tucson's Quality of Life Medical...
A few weeks ago, Arizona was leading the nation in coronavirus infections per capita, as the virus spread across many Sun Belt states that had opened quickly in late spring. In response to a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state of Arizona, the Tucson and Phoenix Veteran Affairs Healthcare Systems are taking...
As Arizona COVID-19 cases start to see some decline, the toll that the virus takes on individuals will be long lasting. Populations of vulnerable people both in the United States and internationally are more likely to experience more severe effects and higher rates of infection than more secure communities.
Last week, the Centers...
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