The farm bill was created as a temporary hand out to farmers created during the Depression, but now it's practically a permanent legislative fixture â a massive spending bill Congress passes every five years. Farm bill spending reached record levels in 2000, paying out $24.7 billion in subsidies.
Medicare contracted with the Omaha, Neb.-based StrategicHealthSolutions to serve as a Medicare supplemental medical review contractor (SMRC) in 2012 to âidentify and employ more efficient methods of medical review, such as data extrapolationâ and lower improper payments for fee-for-service claims, according to its website.
Medicare now pays for inpatient psychiatric care under two sets of rules depending on the setting: (1) It pays for care in scatter beds under the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment system (PPS); and (2) it pays for care in units and psychiatric hospitals under TEFRA (the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982) rules.