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Archive for July, 2011
Majority of Americans Feel States Should Run Health Care
Friday, July 22nd, 2011 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
According to the recent Rasmussen Reports poll, 56 percent of Americans believe that letting states compete to determine the most effective standards and guidelines would do more to reduce health care costs than having the federal government involved. As they have every week since its passage by Congress in March 2010, most voters favor repeal of the health care reform law.
Deficit-Reduction Proposal Aims To Repeal CLASS Act.
Thursday, July 21st, 2011 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
(7/21, Norman) reports, “The deficit-reduction proposal released Tuesday by the reconvened Gang of Six would repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, a move that would be a major setback to advocates for improving access to long-term care.” The CLASS Act, part of the healthcare law, “was one of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s most cherished programs,” but the “fiscal commission led by Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles singled it out as an ‘unsustainable’ entitlement that would most likely saddle taxpayers with a major new liability, a finding that deficit hawks have latched on to in their attacks.” In fact, even HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has acknowledged that the CLASS Act is flawed, although she “said that she has the regulatory leeway to adjust eligibility requirements, premiums and benefits levels to make it work.”
Read the entire article here.
Gov. Hickenlooper announces appointments to the Colorado Health
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
DENVER — Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Gov. John Hickenlooper today announced appointments to the first Colorado Health Benefits Exchange Board, which was created by Senate Bill 200 “Health Benefits Exchange,” sponsored by Senate President Pro-tem Betty Boyd, DLakewood, and House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, R-Monument.
“This will be a Colorado-based health exchange that is created by Coloradans, for Coloradans,” said Hickenlooper. “The exchange represents a broad collaborative effort between businesses, consumers, providers, the insurer community and the state legislature. We are excited to be a leader among states on this issue, and one of 10 states that passed legislation.”
The Colorado Health Exchange will be an independent public entity not affiliated with an existing state agency or department and initially funded by gifts, grants and donations. The exchange will be governed by nine board members of whom the majority will be individuals and business representatives who are not directly affiliated with the insurance industry. The board will hire the exchange’s executive director.
The members appointed by the Governor, Senate and House Majority and Minority leadership are:
- Richard T. Betts of Telluride, with a term to expire 2013. Betts is the owner, ASAP Accounting & Payroll, Inc.
- Eric Grossman of Englewood, with a term to expire 2013. Grossman is a vice president of TriZetto.
- Robert S. Ruiz-Moss of Lone Tree, with a term to expire 2013. Ruiz-Moss is the chief executive officer of Anthem Blue Cross.
- Elizabeth Soberg of Centennial, with a term to expire 2013. Soberg is the chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare of Colorado.
- Gretchen Hammer of Denver, with a term to expire 2015. Hammer is the executive director for the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved.
- Stephen ErkenBrack of Grand Junction, with a term to expire 2015. ErkenBrack is the president of Rocky Mountain Health Plan.
- Arnold Salazar of Alamosa, with a term to expire 2015. Salazar is the executive director of Colorado Health Partnerships, LLC.
- Nathan Wilkes of Arapahoe, with a term to expire 2015. Wilkes is the founder and principal consultant, Headstorms, Inc.
- Dr. Michael Fallon of Denver, with a term to expire 2015. Fallon is an emergency room physician.
For more information on Boards and Commissions, visit www.colorado.gov/governor
Bipartisan Legislation to Repeal OTC Rx CDHC Restrictions Introduced
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
| On July 14, lawmakers introduced the latest bipartisan bill to repeal a portion of PPACA. The measure, which was brought forward by Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Pat Roberts (R-KS) in the Senate, and Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) and Shelley Berkley (D-NV) in the House, would repeal the restriction that prevents consumers from using consumer-directed account-based health products, such as Flexible Spending Arrangements and Health Savings Accounts, to pay for over-the-counter prescription drugs.
The provision was supposed to save $5 billion in federal spending over 10 years by cutting down on unnecessary drug purchases. However, consumers can circumvent the provision by having their physician write a prescription for the medication. This has led to many doctors complaining about the inefficiency of the provision, and the increased visits they incur to see patients for the sole purpose of writing out prescriptions for over-the-counter medicines. In a statement regarding the bill, Senator Nelson stated, “Flexible spending and other medical savings accounts allow consumers to have more control of their medical decisions and help them save money. The use of these consumer-driven accounts should be encouraged, not discouraged.” |
Administration Offers Health Care Cuts as Part of Budget Negotiations
Monday, July 11th, 2011 | Uncategorized | Comments Off
By ROBERT PEAR Published: July 4, 2011
WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials are offering to cut tens of billions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid in negotiations to reduce the federal budget deficit, but the depth of the cuts depends on whether Republicans are willing to accept any increases in tax revenues.
“Congress smells blood,” said William L. Minnix Jr., the chief lobbyist for nonprofit nursing homes.
Mr. Minnix, the president of a trade group known as LeadingAge, is urging nursing homes to “bombard your senators with the message that Medicaid cannot be cut by $100 billion” over 10 years, as President Obama and many Republican lawmakers have suggested.
A coalition of hospital lobbyists, worried about the direction of the budget talks, has begun a national advertising campaign to block further cuts in the two health care programs, which account for about 55 percent of hospital revenues. The hospitals have made a commitment to spend up to $1 million a week through August on television, print and online advertising.
“This is white-knuckle time for a lot of people,” said Bryant Hall, a health care lobbyist whose clients include drug and biotechnology companies. “Stakeholders and beneficiaries are anxiously watching the budget negotiations.”
They may have reason to be anxious.
Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Senate Democrat, said: “We are very willing to entertain savings in Medicare. Medicare gives very good health care very inefficiently.”
In return, Mr. Schumer said, Republicans should be willing to consider some additional revenue.
Negotiators said they were seriously considering cuts in Medicare payments to hospitals for uncollectible patient debt and the training of doctors; steps to eliminate Medicare “overpayments” to nursing homes; a reduction in the federal share of some Medicaid spending; and new restrictions on states’ ability to finance Medicaid by imposing taxes on hospitals and other health care providers.
Medicare and Medicaid insure more than 100 million people, account for 23 percent of all federal spending and are likely to be an important part of any budget deal. Military spending, which accounts for about 20 percent of federal expenditures, is likely to be included as well.
Most Republicans have ruled out tax rate increases to reduce the deficit. Mr. Obama has rejected the idea of Medicare vouchers, Medicaid block grants or any rollback of the new health care law. But he and the Republicans say they still hope to find some common ground.
Mr. Obama has embraced the goal of reducing deficits by a total of $4 trillion over 12 years — an ambitious goal that suggests the size of any grand bargain.
In a speech in April, Mr. Obama offered to slow the growth of Medicare and Medicaid without cutting benefits. He said his ideas would save $340 billion over 10 years and a total of nearly $500 billion in the two programs by 2023. His numbers quickly became a starting point in the negotiations.
As for Medicaid, administration officials have indicated that they could accept savings of $100 billion or more over 10 years, much to the dismay of many House Democrats. The lawmakers say the cuts would impair access to care for the poor and shift costs to the states, which are facing a huge expansion in Medicaid eligibility and enrollment, scheduled to start in 2014 under the new health care law.
While insisting on new revenue at his news conference last week, Mr. Obama also said, “We’ll have to tackle entitlements,” adding that “health care cuts” need to be part of any deal.
Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, the Connecticut independent, described a fiscal and political imperative: “We can’t balance the budget without dealing with mandatory spending programs like Medicare. We can’t save Medicare as we know it. We can save Medicare only if we change it.”
The new health care law trimmed Medicare payments to most providers. Many states, in fiscal distress, are cutting Medicaid, which is financed jointly by the federal government and the states. If Congress and the president now make additional cuts, hospitals say, they will close some services and increase charges to patients with private insurance.
Mr. Minnix, the lobbyist for nonprofit nursing homes, said: “The issue is not money. The issue is the effects on people, vulnerable people.”
The American Medical Association and AARP, the lobby for older Americans, have joined hospitals and nursing homes in fighting other proposals that would limit federal spending as a percentage of the gross domestic product. Members of Congress of both parties have introduced bills that would automatically cut spending across the board if such limits were about to be breached.
While details have yet to be decided, lawmakers and administration officials said they were seriously considering these proposals:
¶ Gradually eliminate Medicare payments to hospitals for bad debts that result when beneficiaries fail to pay deductibles and co-payments. Medicare reimburses hospitals for 70 percent of such debts after the hospitals make reasonable efforts to collect the unpaid amounts.
¶ Reduce Medicare payments to teaching hospitals for the costs of training doctors, caring for sicker patients and providing specialized services like trauma care and organ transplants. Medicare spends $9.5 billion a year for its share of those costs.
¶ Reduce the federal share of payments to health care providers treating low-income people under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The administration wants to establish a single “blended rate” for each state. The federal government now reimburses states at different rates for different groups of people and different services in the two programs.
Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, the senior Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee and an architect of Medicaid, said he was “very concerned” that this proposal would reduce the federal contribution to Medicaid and shift costs to states.