The Arkansas Hospital Association is in the process of surveying members about the immediate impact of the swarm of newly insured Arkansans, but Executive Vice President Paul Cunningham said the results would probably not be available for another month. read more >

Aledade is what’s called an ACO, an accountable care organization, a relatively new type of entity established by the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act for the purpose of improving health care quality while controlling unnecessary spending. read more >

Adding to hospital frustration is the way that the RACs, which are private companies, are paid: They have a financial incentive to deny as many claims as possible because they receive up to 12.5 percent of the money recovered. read more >

We want it all. And for years the government has granted our wish. But with a $17.4 trillion debt and entitlement programs headed down and unsustainable path, it's time to get serious and re-examine our priorities. read more >

Hospitals in central Arkansas must collaborate to survive, according to St. Vincent Health System President and CEO Peter Banko, who says he doesn’t think Little Rock can support three hospitals. read more >

If Dr. Stacey M. Johnson of Mountain Home had not died earlier this year at 63, he likely would have been charged with overbilling Medicare by $14.7 million, according to a criminal investigator’s affidavit that was recently made public. read more >

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences had an operating loss of $27.8 million in the first six months of its current fiscal year, a dramatic downturn from an $8.5 million operating gain during the same period a year earlier. read more >

Higher-income Americans and some legally married same-sex couples are likely to feel the biggest hits from tax law changes when they file their returns in the next month or two. Taxpayers also will have a harder time taking medical deductions this year. read more >

Senior Editor Mark Friedman’s scoop last week about a Mountain Home cardiologist, now deceased, and his Medicare fraud was monstrous in several ways. For one thing, it will be hard to beat as a monster generator of Web traffic at ArkansasBusiness.com. But much more importantly, it allowed readers to see the monstrous truth about Medicare fraud: It’s not patients, it’s providers. read more >

If Dr. Stacey M. Johnson of Mountain Home had not died earlier this year at 63, he likely would have been charged with overbilling Medicare by $14.7 million, according to a criminal investigator’s affidavit that was recently made public. read more >

Jay Bradford has more than four decades of experience in the insurance industry, including 30 years as founder, chairman and former shareholder of First Arkansas Insurance Group of Pine Bluff, a statewide network of independent property and casualty agencies. He also served in the Arkansas Legislature for 24 years, where he was chosen both speaker pro tempore of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate. Bradford also served as chairman of the Public Health, Welfare & Labor Committee in both bodies. read more >

White River Health System in Batesville is preparing for the possible rush of patients once health care reform is fully implemented next year. read more >

Hot Spring County Medical Center of Malvern is in talks to form a partnership with Baptist Health of Little Rock. If the deal is approved by the Hot Spring County Quorum Court, Baptist Health would operate the 72-bed hospital, said HSC Medical Center CEO Sheila Williams. read more >

Does Congress remember the abysmal failure of the recent past? One in which non-binding budget resolutions and budget control acts not only didn’t eliminate deficit spending for any meaningful period but also arguably opened the door for massive entitlement expansion? I fear not. read more >

The open enrollment period allows current and newly eligible beneficiaries to sign up for benefits or make changes to their existing benefit plans. read more >