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Viewpoints: Controlling entitlement spending; irrationality of bashing health overhaul; need for changes to state workers' benefits; Va. abortion rules

Entitlement spending - Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the rest - is the long-term problem. … But Social Security is the easy case. Medicare and Medicaid have much bigger problems. The rise in their spending is fueled by the aging population and ever-more-expensive advances in medical care. Their problems cannot be solved with taxes unless American workers want government to take an ever-increasing share of their pay.

20 Sep 2011

No room for Medicare patients

When I went into solo practice of internal medicine in 1981, it was very easy to get a doctor to see a Medicare patient. All I had to do was make a phone call. A courteous receptionist answered. If the doctor couldn't come to the phone right away, I could count on a prompt callback.

19 Sep 2011

Feds OK Mich. request to reduce premium costs for state's pre-existing condition insurance plan

Other news reports related to health law implementation include the latest on a push by the Department of Health and Human Services for state insurance exchange partnerships, speculation about the measure's essential benefits rule and efforts on Capitol Hill to block the law's funding.

19 Sep 2011

Republican candidates are unabashed in opposition to 'Obamacare' but stay quiet on Medicare's drug plan

The Associated Press reports that, even with their emphasis on deficit reduction, most of the GOP presidential candidates don't seem to be talking about the Medicare drug program, a massive entitlement with future unfunded costs of about $7 trillion, as much as the 2010 health law.

19 Sep 2011

Phytel launches new suite of automated care management solutions

Phytel today launched the next generation of automated care management solutions with its integrated Atmosphere™ platform, which enables providers to better manage quality and proactively improve chronic and preventive care across their populations. These scalable, Software-as-a-Service automation tools together comprise the first comprehensive, integrated population health management solution designed for providers.

19 Sep 2011

Mayo Clinic recruits patients in Texas; Ga. hospitals' building boom

In state hospital news, Dallas Morning News reports on an advertising campaign by Minn.'s Mayo Clinic and two Georgia news organizations report on developments in the industry there.

19 Sep 2011

'Super committee' members have received $1.6 million from 'bundlers'

These contributions, which have been given over the past year to several members of the panel, come from defense, health care and tax interests.

19 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 19, 2011

Today's headlines offer information about how Medicare and Medicaid will fare in President Barack Obama's deficit-reduction plan.

19 Sep 2011

Obama deficit plan to have cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and a tax hike for millionaires

President Obama on Monday will call for a new minimum tax rate for individuals making more than $1 million a year to ensure that they pay at least the same percentage of their earnings as middle-income taxpayers, according to administration officials. With a special joint Congressional committee starting work to reach a bipartisan budget deal by late November, the proposal adds a new and populist feature to Mr. Obama's effort to raise the political pressure on Republicans to agree to higher revenues from the wealthy in return for Democrats' support of future cuts from Medicare and Medicaid.

19 Sep 2011

MedPAC prepares 'doc fix' proposal with full cost offset

The plan takes the commission into an area it generally tries to avoid: how to pay for such a major change to the Medicare system. Its suggestion is to pay for the SGR fix by reducing payments to specialists and imposing cuts on other parts of the health care sector.

17 Sep 2011

Research roundup: Personalized info helps consumer decision-making; Racial disparities in knee replacement

Comparison Friction: Experimental Evidence From Medicare Drug Plans – Defining comparison friction as "the wedge between the availability of comparative information and consumers' use of it," the authors determined that providing prescription drug pricing information, even though it was free and accessible in other ways, increased the amount of "plan-switching" in the group to 28 percent compared to 17 percent in another that did not get the individual information.

17 Sep 2011

MedPAC recommendations may jeopardize access to care: ACS

Yesterday, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) reviewed draft recommendations related to the flawed and unsustainable Medicare Physician Payment system. The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is pleased that the MedPAC has recognized the need to eliminate the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) and move towards a reimbursement system that is based on quality of care.

17 Sep 2011

Power wheelchairs are not 'government waste', they give freedom and independence to people with disabilities

"The public would be better served if policymakers left their desks in Washington and met with us in our homes, where every day is a struggle."

17 Sep 2011

MedPAC proposal for additional reimbursement cuts to clinical laboratories are unsustainable: ACLA

The proposal now under consideration by the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee to slash Medicare reimbursement rates for clinical laboratory services as part of a broader effort to fix the Medicare physician-payment system would threaten the economic survival of many clinical labs. That was the message of a letter signed by ACLA President Alan Mertz and sent today to MedPAC Chairman Glenn Hackbarth.

17 Sep 2011

Medicare Advantage premiums to fall 4% in 2012

As premium costs fell, enrollment rose – despite dire predictions from opponents of the 2010 health law that the overhaul would cause enrollment to drop while forcing the cost of premiums to increase.

17 Sep 2011

LifePoint Hospitals' board authorizes new $250M stock repurchase program

LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. today announced that its Board of Directors, at a regularly scheduled meeting, has authorized a new stock repurchase program that will allow for repurchases of up to $250 million of its common stock over the next 18 months. Amounts available under the Company's previously announced share repurchase program were exhausted during the current fiscal quarter.

17 Sep 2011

MedPAC 'doc fix' could undermine seniors' care, jeopardize local jobs, and destabilize key health sector

Commenting on an initial outline from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) to address the sustainable growth rate formula used to fund physicians, the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care said news reports of proposed Medicare cuts of $49 billion over ten years for post-acute care providers -- on top of the many cuts already in effect -- would severely undermine seniors' care, jeopardize local jobs, and further destabilize a key U.S. health sector already reeling from a series of budgetary and regulatory actions.

17 Sep 2011

House Republicans launch new attacks on health law regulations

The medical-loss ratio requirement is one of the prime GOP targets. Democrats responded that Republicans were trying to roll-back key consumer protections. In other health law implementation news, HHS announced new funding for community health centers, and groups interested in setting up health insurance co-ops are seeking certain HHS "tweaks" in the regulations.

17 Sep 2011

Deficit panel moves deliberations behind closed doors

The 12-member 'super committee' held a private meeting Thursday and emerged with few details, though a co-chair acknowledged that their work won't be easy. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, are signaling the different courses they want to see the panel follow. Also, congressional Democrats are getting increasingly worried about what might become of Medicare and Medicaid.

17 Sep 2011

DestinationRx is now DRX

DestinationRx, Inc., a leading provider of healthcare comparison tools, technology and data, today announced a strategic decision to rename the company DRX. The change in branding is a response to the company's significant growth in the healthcare industry—from its origins in prescription drug pricing and purchasing technology to its expansion into broader drug and health plan comparison technology and data services.

17 Sep 2011

Medicare News and Research

Viewpoints: Controlling entitlement spending; irrationality of bashing health overhaul; need for changes to state workers' benefits; Va. abortion rules

No room for Medicare patients

Feds OK Mich. request to reduce premium costs for state's pre-existing condition insurance plan

Republican candidates are unabashed in opposition to 'Obamacare' but stay quiet on Medicare's drug plan

Phytel launches new suite of automated care management solutions

Mayo Clinic recruits patients in Texas; Ga. hospitals' building boom

'Super committee' members have received $1.6 million from 'bundlers'

First Edition: September 19, 2011

Obama deficit plan to have cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and a tax hike for millionaires

MedPAC prepares 'doc fix' proposal with full cost offset

Research roundup: Personalized info helps consumer decision-making; Racial disparities in knee replacement

MedPAC recommendations may jeopardize access to care: ACS

Power wheelchairs are not 'government waste', they give freedom and independence to people with disabilities

MedPAC proposal for additional reimbursement cuts to clinical laboratories are unsustainable: ACLA

Medicare Advantage premiums to fall 4% in 2012

LifePoint Hospitals' board authorizes new $250M stock repurchase program

MedPAC 'doc fix' could undermine seniors' care, jeopardize local jobs, and destabilize key health sector

House Republicans launch new attacks on health law regulations

Deficit panel moves deliberations behind closed doors

DestinationRx is now DRX

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