Acos, medical loss ratio among health law elements drawing scrutiny

News outlets report on various criticisms and defenses of these key provisions of the health overhaul.

The Wall Street Journal: Health Care Initiative Draws Fire
Hospitals and doctors are pushing back against an Obama administration initiative that urges them to create new organizations to coordinate the care of groups of Medicare patients. The voluntary program seeks to save money and improve treatment. But the health-care providers say the rules proposed for the initiative are too onerous and the financial incentives too weak, and that they will participate only if the program gets a major revamp (Wilde Mathews, 6/3).

The Hill: Insurance Agents Say MLR Rules Create 'Desperate' Situation
The cost and quality of health care will get worse because of health care reform rules that let the federal government review rates and set limits on how insurance companies spend their money, small businesses and insurance agents said Thursday. Employers and agents are particularly concerned about rules that say insurers can only put 20 percent of their revenues toward profit and administrative expenses. Agents and brokers want their commissions to be carved out of the definition of administrative costs. Without that change, they fear insurers will squeeze broker commissions in order to free up money for other uses (Baker, 6/2).

CQ HealthBeat: Despite Divisions, No Going Back on Overhaul, Berwick Says
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald M. Berwick said Thursday he sees no going back in the effort to overhaul the nation's health care system despite the bitter partisanship that has surrounded the issue. Berwick, who appeared at a forum on health information technology sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center, recounted numerous community-based efforts across the country to improve the safety, efficiency, timeliness, appropriateness, and "patient-centeredness" of care - goals he has often identified as his ambition for a system overhaul (Reichard, 6/2).