HomeCare Editors’ Top 5: Week of April 20

Senate Clears Bill to Permanently Change Medicare Reimbursement Formula

The Senate on Tuesday cleared a bill to set a new formula for calculating payments to doctors and other providers who treat Medicare patients, bringing to a close more than a decade of legislative patches for a system that had repeatedly threatened reductions in physician pay. (Siobahn Hughes/The Wall Street Journal)

Top GOP Negotiators Return Early to Work on Budget

The top House and Senate budget negotiators are returning to Washington early from congressional recess to begin to hash out a final fiscal blueprint agreement, several sources told POLITICO. House Budget Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga., and Senate Budget Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., will huddle Thursday on Capitol Hill to discuss the differences between the two chambers’ budgets as the clock ticks toward an April 15 deadline for the two to reach an accord. (Rachel Bade and Jake Sherman/Politico)

CMS Draft Rule Would Ease EHR Program Demands

The CMS intends to give more flexibility to hospitals, office-based physicians and other healthcare providers to meet federal targets for the meaningful use of electronic health records, according to a proposed rule the agency issued late Friday. Chief among the changes in the 210-page draft rule is a proposal to standardize the 2015 reporting period for the EHR incentive-payment program to 90 consecutive days of achieving meaningful-use criteria. (Joseph Conn/Modern Healthcare)

Health Insurance Shoppers Look to Limited Networks to Save Money

In all the turmoil in health care, one surprising truth is emerging: Consumers seem increasingly comfortable trading a greater choice of hospitals or doctors for a health plan that costs significantly less money. “Are they willing to trade choice and access for price? There’s no question about that,” said Mark Newton, the chief executive of Swedish Covenant Hospital, a Chicago hospital that recently teamed with an Illinois insurer,Land of Lincoln Health, to offer a health plan. (Reed Abelson/The New Tork Times)

UnitedHealth Boosts 2015 Forecast as Optum Revenue Increases

UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer, raised its 2015 forecast and posted first-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates amid higher revenue from its Optum technology business. The shares jumped. Earnings, excluding certain items, will be $6.15 to $6.30 a share, the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based insurer said Thursday in a statement. The company had said as recently as last month that 2015 profit would be $6 to $6.25 a share. (Zachary Tracer/Bloomberg)