Editors’ Top Five Week of August 21

Washington Report: DME Competitive Bidding Program Saved Billions
Researchers compared prices from Round 1 of the Medicare competitive bidding program, which were established for the periods 2011–13 and 2014–16, to prices paid by national commercial insurers for the same types of items in 2011–14. (Ronald Schwartz, The Remington Report)

Medicare Claims Appeals: D.C. Circuit Reverses and Remands in Case Seeking Relief from Processing Delays
On August 11, 2017, the D.C. Circuit reversed the district court and held that the district court abused its discretion by ordering the Secretary of HHS to clear the backlog of administrative appeals of denied Medicare reimbursement claims within four years, because it failed to seriously test the Secretary’s assertion that this result was impossible. (Donald Romano/National Law Review)

The Real Health Care Fight Is Coming, and It’s About Seniors’ Access
There are so many aging people in the country today that no amount of healthful living will prevent enormous increases in demand for older-age caregiving. (Philip Moeller/PBS Newshour)

Disabled Iowans Don’t Have Limitless Rights to Medicaid Services, State Lawyers Say
The lawsuit contends disabled Iowans have seen drastic cuts to in-home services since Iowa made the controversial decision to hire for-profit companies to run its Medicaid program last year. (Tony Leys/The Des Moines Register)

Bayada Home Health Transfer to Nonprofit Will Start Next Spring
Giving away a health-care business with operations in 22 states and five foreign countries is not easy. (Harold Brubaker/Philadelphia Inquirer)