CQ's Carey looks at new Medicare marketing guidelines, health care provisions added to supplemental war spending bill, House panel approval of health care bills

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, examines proposed marketing guidelines for private Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare and Medicaid provisions that Republicans want removed from a supplemental war spending bill, and a House panel's approval of several health care-related measures in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

According to Carey, the Bush administration has proposed new marketing guidelines for private insurers offering MA plans that would ban aggressive sales tactics and regulate sales commissions. If insurers violate the rules, CMS would have the authority to impose a fine of up to $25,000 for each beneficiary affected by a violation, Carey says.

Carey also discusses provisions attached to the supplemental war spending bill that would ban new specialty hospitals from receiving Medicare payments and that would block for one year the implementation of new Medicaid regulations that lawmakers and governors say would unfairly shift costs to states. The Bush administration has maintained that the regulations are necessary to stop states from using federal Medicaid funding for services that do not assist low-income people. Carey adds that Senate Republicans have launched a campaign to remove the provisions from the bill.

Lastly, Carey says a measure approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee would reauthorize funding for community health centers through fiscal year 2012 and provide $30 million per year from FY 2009 to 2013 to support pediatric cancer research within the National Cancer Institute, as well as establish a population-based childhood cancer database that would provide information for patients and families affected by the disease. Carey adds that a third bill would reauthorize the national poison control centers' toll-free number, media campaign and grant program through FY 2014.

The complete audio version of "Health on the Hill," transcript and resources for further research are available online at kaisernetwork.org.