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State governments have a unique opportunity to transform the current health care system into one that provides higher-quality care at lower costs.

In an effort to save $1.3 billion over five years and curb the abuse of prescription drugs that Medicare pays for, the CMS is proposing an array of changes to Medicare's Part D and Advantage programs.

Across the country, Medicaid expansion varies among states. Some experts worried about whether that variation would drive Americans to relocate to other states so that they could obtain better medical coverage. However, those concerns are likely to prove unfounded, according to a recent study from Harvard.

Hospitals across the nation delivered $45.9 billion in uncompensated care during 2012, according to an annual study of the American Hospital Association.

The share of individuals who will gain insurance coverage under the federal healthcare reform law will vary sharply from state to state, according to a report released Monday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

New federal estimates show that U.S. health spending growth continued to grow at a historically low rate in 2012 even as the economy rebounded.

An annual report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finds that health spending totaled $2.8 trillion in 2012, which accounted for 17.2% of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) and was down slightly from the 17.3 % of GDP in 2011.

Republican leaders in Idaho on Friday dampened expectations about broadening Medicaid healthcare eligibility this year for poor residents in the state, on the same grounds they balked in 2013: Before taking extra federal money, the existing system should be overhauled to encourage beneficiaries to take personal responsibility for their health.

Behaving well in elementary school could reduce smoking in later life.

Hospitals in the U.S. have rebounded from the Great Recession and are showing stronger operating margins than in years past, even as more care shifts from inpatient to outpatient.

While government officials have spent months scrambling to fix the federal health law's botched rollout, another issue is looming that could create new headaches for states, health plans and patients.

The Affordable Care Act has been touted as a means to control costs and improve quality of care. One initiative in that effort is to steer patients away from visiting the emergency department (ED). That undertaking may prove to be challenging.

The health IT market is poised for strong growth.

Iowa state legislature, which is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, came up with an alternative: Federal expansion dollars would pay for managed care policies that poor people would select on the HealthCare.gov site.

January 2014 has arrived, and with that Affordable Care Act coverage begins. Over the next 12 months, the administration will thoroughly consider the ways in which it can control the rising costs of healthcare in the United States. This is especially true for the nation's Medicare program.

Emergency rooms may be a preferred choice for care among 3.9 million people newly enrolled in the U.S. Medicaid program for the poor, according to a study that suggests Obamacare's costs may be higher than expected.

A coverage gap in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) means that many children will not be eligible for dental coverage, which was mandated as one of the 10 essential health benefits for adequate health insurance.

Hospitals and medical practices across the United States are bracing for confusion and administrative hassles as new insurance plans under President Barack Obama's healthcare law take effect.

Narrow networks are here to stay. Some of the nation's top payers and providers are leading the way.

Low-income and disabled people who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and belong to Medicare Advantage plans consistently score worse than other Medicare Advantage enrollees on the performance measures that determine plan eligibility for bonus payments from the CMS.

Over two million people have enrolled in health insurance plans through the federally run HealthCare.gov and state healthcare enrollment websites, a US administration official said on Tuesday. HealthCare.gov covers 36 states, and another 14 states have their own websites.

A look back at some of the InFocus blog highlights of 2013.

The Health IT Policy Committee (HITPC) adopted recommendations from its Consumer Empowerment Workgroup on patient-generated health data (PGHD) at its December meeting and is expected to finalize its complete Stage 3 recommendations in February.

Insurance companies aren't crazy about their share of the health law's taxes, but mostly they've complained to politicians and regulators.

Healthcare reform is already presenting new challenges and opportunities for endocrinology, a specialty that is under significant stress in the United States. A critical workforce shortage has drained the pool of practicing endocrinologists, just as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is expected to send millions of newly insured people into the system.

Starting in January, there will officially be an additional 123 accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. As providers and hospitals transition to this emerging care model, there is mixed opinion over its longevity.

HHS announced the latest round of accountable care contracts in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, adding 123 additional ACOs and reaching about 1.5 million more Medicare beneficiaries.

The final panel of the conference analyzes the role of the industry in healthcare, including panelists' observations on topics such as innovation. Mr Gamble, for instance, offers his insights as to how groups like the Community Oncology Alliance are working with the industry to drive the message about the quality and the value component throughout all the stakeholders. Dr Fox provides perspective on how payers can offer valuable partnerships throughout the industry, including those with pharmaceutical companies.

Dr Cliff Goodman leads a discussion featuring panelists including The American Journal of Managed Care's co-editor-in-chief, Dr Michael Chernew. Topics of the discussion include the impact of value-based pricing in the market, and how different pricing models such as bundled payments or accountable care organizations impact risk factors.

According to Dr Ramsey, both the Health Economics Outcomes Research (HEOR) model and the pharmaceuticals pricing model in the United States are broken. He says: Unless we, as a community, figure out a way to use health economics in our decision making, we are not going to stop this train of unsupportable price increases in pharma.