CMS Inspector General Find Millions in Overpayment to Anthem Health Care On May 24, 2021, CMS’ Inspector General announced a finding that health insurer Anthem failed to comply with some federal coding requirements, resulting in overpayments to Anthem of $3.47 million.  Under the Medicare Advantage program, CMS makes monthly payments to organizations according to a...

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Announces Several New Appointments On May 25, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced 15 new appointments: 1. Steve Cha, MD, was named counselor to the secretary, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality/Food and Drug Administration/National Institutes of Health. 2. Melanie Fontes Rainer was named...

Two Reports on Health Care Trends Released The American Medical Associaion released two separate reports on health care trends in May. The first report was on 2019 health care spending. This report provides a detailed look at the official U.S. health care spending estimates through 2019 using data from the CMS. It also presents preliminary...

U.S. Senate Approves Biden Administration Nominee as CMS Administrator On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s pick to run U.S. health insurance programs, putting in place a key player who’ll carry out his strategy for expanding affordable coverage and reining in prescription drug costs. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure was approved by the...