CMS released the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2019 final rule April 9 to give states additional flexibility when choosing benefits in essential health benefit benchmark plans offered under health insurance marketplaces.
A national coverage determination (NCD) related to implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) is causing some confusion. The NCD was issued on February 15, and the changes, while billed as “relatively minimal,” may actually require significant process alterations.
CMS recently released its annual report of Health Insurance Exchange open enrollment, which revealed that open enrollment is down from 12.2 million in 2017 to 11.8 million for 2018.
Some patients can now get more than just a prescription at their local pharmacy. Two healthcare organizations, BayCare Health System, Inc. in Clearwater, Florida, and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, have announced separate but similar partnerships with Publix and Walgreens that allow patients to visit specially designed telemedicine kiosks where they can video conference with a doctor to get a diagnosis and treatment for non-urgent medical problems.
