News
Ten Forces Framing Strategic Discussion -- March 16, 2010
By any account, 2009 was a watershed year in which politics, the economy, public sentiment and the media all played a significant role in framing a new environment for health care over the next decade. With tumultuous challenge to the first significant overhaul of our nation’s health care system since the introduction of Medicare in the mid-1960s, health systems are still trying to determine the likely impact of payment reform initiatives on health system strategy. Here is a round-up of the most significant market forces that will shape strategic discussions over the next year, and most likely for the foreseeable future.
'Deem and pass' tactic sparks partisan debate -- March 16, 2010
Democrats vowed Tuesday to pass a health-care overhaul package in one way or another but ran into vociferous resistance from Republican lawmakers, who blasted a potential maneuver that would allow the House to approve the Senate's version of President Obama's signature domestic initiative without actually voting on it.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and other Democrats spent much of Tuesday defending the parliamentary procedure in question, although they told reporters that party leaders have not made a final decision on whether to use it. Under the procedure, known as a "self-executing rule" or a "deem and pass," the House would adopt a rule for a vote on a package of fixes to the Senate health-care bill, with passage signifying that lawmakers "deem" the underlying bill to be passed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/16/AR2010031602746.html?hpid=topnews
Number of uninsured Americans could grow by 10M in five years -- March 15, 2010
PRINCETON, NJ – Without significant reform to the healthcare system, the number of uninsured Americans could grow by 10 million in five years, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
A RWJF report projects that by 2015, there could be as many as 59.7 million people uninsured, and that number could swell to 67.6 million by 2020. An estimated 49.4 million individuals were without health coverage in 2010. The report also shows that spending on government healthcare programs for the poor could more than double by 2020.
http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/number-uninsured-americans-could-grow-10m-five-years
Physician Groups Urge Changes for Meaningful Use Criteria -- March 15, 2010
Leading provider groups used the last day of a public comment period to urge CMS to scale back the proposed rule establishing meaningful use criteria for electronic health records incentive programs. The Englewood, CO-based Medical Group Management Association asked CMS to formally request a one-year legislative extension of Stage 1 of the incentive program from Congress.
MGMA President/CEO William F. Jessee, MD, said in a 43-page letter to CMS Acting Administrator Charlene Frizzera that a failure to substantially modify the proposal would risk meeting the goals for health information technology adoption under the $21 billion stimulus package.
Obama makes pitch for health-care reform -- March 15, 2010
STRONGSVILLE, Ohio -- With a decisive vote on his health-care overhaul possible within days, President Obama declared repeatedly Monday that "we need courage" from elected leaders to pass the far-reaching package, as he made an impassioned pitch in northeastern Ohio, where unemployment runs high and insurance coverage is never a certainty.
"I don't know about the politics, but I know what's the right thing to do," Obama said in a speech at a senior center here, nearly shouting as the crowd cheered. "And so I'm calling on Congress to pass these reforms -- and I'm going to sign them into law. I want some courage. I want us to do the right thing, Ohio. And with your help, we're going to make it happen."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/15/AR2010031501796.html?hpid%3Dtopnews
HHS Announces Additional $162 Million --- Health IT -- March 15, 2010
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced awards to help states facilitate health information exchange and advance health information technology (health IT). Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, today’s awards are part of the $2 billion effort to achieve widespread meaningful use of health IT and provide use of an electronic health record by every citizen by the year 2014. Every state and eligible territory has now been awarded funds under this program.
Economist says episode payments will bend healthcare cost -- March 15, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO – Episode payments – case rates for major acute interventions and chronic conditions – are the best approach for payment reform, according to a University of California economist.
“We can’t, as a country, bend the cost curve if we don’t go to where the dollars are,” said James Robinson, Kaiser Permanente Professor of Health Economics at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. Robinson was the closing keynote speaker at the 5th National Pay for Performance Summit last week.
The healthcare industry needs to better manage the cost of cancer drugs, implantable devices and imaging, which is where most of the cost increases can be found, Robinson said.
http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/economist-says-episode-payments-will-bend-healthcare-cost
House Budget Committee approves reconciliation bill -- March 15, 2010
A key House committee voted Monday to advance President Obama's plan to overhaul the nation's health-care system, clearing the way for the House to vote on the measure later this week.
The House Budget Committee voted 21 to 16 to send the health care legislation to the House Rules Committee. That panel is expected to meet Thursday to draft new language for the reconciliation bill, compiling a package of fixes to the $875 billion measure that passed the Senate on Christmas Eve.
Two Democrats voted with all 14 Republicans to reject the effort to proceed with the Democratic strategy. Rep. Chet Edwards (Texas) and Allen Boyd (Fla.) both voted against the House health care bill last fall.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/house-budget-committee-approve.html
Senate votes to delay doc pay cut until Oct. 1 -- March 11, 2010
WASHINGTON – The Senate voted on Wednesday to delay a 21 percent Medicare physician pay cut until Oct. 1. If the House joins the Senate in passing the measure, this will be the third time Congress has postponed the cut that was mandated to take place Jan. 1, 2010.
J. James Rohack, MD, president of the American Medical Association said the Senate's action delays solving the problem.
http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/senate-votes-delay-doc-pay-cut-until-oct-1
Sebelius calls on insurance executives to justify premium hikes -- March 8, 2010
WASHINGTON – Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has asked the CEOs of top health insurance companies to justify proposed health insurance premium hikes.
In a letter addressed to executives at the UnitedHealth Group, WellPoint, Aetna, the Healthcare Service Corporation and CIGNA HealthCare – with whom she met last week at the White House – she wrote, "...it’s time for these insurance company CEOs to do their part to make the system more transparent for the American people. If insurance companies are going to raise rates, the least they can do is tell us why.”
