During the first 46 days of the new session of Congress, the House held 45 hearings involving Secretary Sebelius or other HHS officials criticizing the Affordable Care Act. Not much going on in the Democratic Senate. Especially the once-powerful Senate Finance Committee whose chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) was busy writing to Medtronic demanding the company prove that by cancelling five contracts with “group purchasing” company Novation, LLC, it was not raising the costs of the … Continue reading »
Twenty-six states have filed briefs in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta asking the appellate court to uphold the decision of Federal Judge Roger Vinson of Florida declaring the ACA unconstitutional. Four more states have passed measures to prevent the laws implementation and New Hampshire voted to send back any federal money intended to implement the new law. Georgia’s M.D. Congressman Tom Price has introduced legislation in the House that will allow “balance billing” … Continue reading »
Minnesota’s new Republican Congressman Chip Cravaack signed on to the Republican proposal to turn Medicare into a private health insurance plan with vouchered premium subsidies. His dad called from Ohio to ask why. His son replied, “No, Dad, this is going to preserve your Medicare. Nothing will change for you.” And he told a Minneapolis Tribune reporter his dad “was just confused.” And then confused the rest of us by saying that “if we do … Continue reading »
Posted May 5, 2011 in: Medicare, Opinion Page |
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It appears obvious that no one at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services or at the HHS in Baltimore/Washington D.C. does. Either that, or the 429 page preliminary ACO rules were drafted by a committee looking to define accountability as the lowest common denominator. I served on MedPAC when chairman Glen Hackbarth guided us toward using the term “accountable care organization” to capture what we already know works in value-driven health and health care … Continue reading »
Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) was as instrumental as anyone in Barack Obama’s election as president. Having lost a re-election bid to John Thune (R-SD), the former majority leader turned his talents to health policy reform and wrote a book on the subject. Drawing on several decades in the House and Senate he concluded that health system reform was impossible without changing the Medicare program. Changing Medicare, like changing health care generally, depended totally on every elected official’s … Continue reading »
Americans who are either elderly or disabled and are poor. Without any income security other than Medicare and Medicaid. Some 6 million of us who are “dually eligible.” And consuming Medicaid dollars for supportive services in the community or in institutions. This is always the last “entitlement” program to get any attention, because we’d rather not think seriously about the prospects of our own need of “long term care.”
The A.C.A. contains a commitment to deal with this … Continue reading »
While the Congress debates whether to close down the federal government over its failure to agree on $20 billion or $60 billion or $100 billion in spending cuts from the FY 2011 budget, it is preparing its members and us for the possibility of entitlement program reform as part of an October 1st deadline for the FY 2012 budget. The fastest growth in entitlement spending comes in the Medicare program for nearly 48 million of … Continue reading »
Posted March 29, 2011 in: Medicare, Opinion Page |
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Congress has experimented at various times with privatizing Medicare. In 2003, the Republicans passed the Medicare Modernization Act which provided for a new Medicare Part C (private Medicare Advantage Plans) and Part D (Prescription drugs. The law provided that Medicare would pay private insurance 112% of what it pays for traditional Medicare and leave it to the companies to decide how to expand benefits to attract customers. However, they ruled out paying for Viagra and … Continue reading »
Posted March 24, 2011 in: Medicare, Opinion Page |
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I recently asked a Republican legislator why the GOP has been doing “group-think” on health reform and on most every other public spending policy. She replied, “We’ve been sent here to tear down the welfare state.” I see that in the language they use. Social insurance (you pay in now so when you need it you take it out) programs like Social Security and Medicare and Disability Insurance are always referred to as welfare or … Continue reading »
Posted March 16, 2011 in: Medicare, Opinion Page |
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The Dartmouth Atlas/Foundation for Informed Decision-Making has a new report on what Medicare data shows about how where you live determines the chances you’ll be seeing a surgeon rather than an alternative therapist. The report is the first in a series looking at individual states and regions. Researchers analyzed the rates of elective or preference-sensitive procedures including all the expensive and frequent surgeries.
This is more evidence for the need we have in this country for … Continue reading »
Posted February 24, 2011 in: Medicare, Opinion Page |
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