Facilities are seeing millions more patients thanks in part to special federal dollars, but they also want to see their base grants boosted.

Some see coverage of intensive cardiac rehab and weight-loss counseling as growing acknowledgment that traditional medicine has limits in tackling heart disease and obesity.

An independent entity modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board could transform patient safety, proponents argue. Skeptics say the agency would be redundant.

The American Medical Association and state and specialty societies call for less aggressive criteria in the Medicare and Medicaid electronic health record incentive program.