02/03/2012
On Wednesday, HHS announced that premiums for Medicare Advantage plans decreased by 7% and enrollment increased by 10% in the last year. HHS said the data show that the federal health reform law has not weakened the program, but insurers argued that significant program cuts are still to come. The Hill's "Healthwatch."
02/03/2012
Yesterday, the Obama administration announced that the health reform law reduced prescription drug costs by $2.1 billion for the 3.6 million Medicare beneficiaries who were in the "doughnut hole" in 2011, amounting to about $604 in savings per beneficiary. Los Angeles Times et al.
02/03/2012
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp says a panel tasked with extending a payroll tax cut and delaying Medicare payment cuts might lack authority to fund such measures with savings from ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Kaiser Health News' "Capsules" et al.
01/31/2012
Today, the Congressional Budget Office released an economic outlook predicting that the cost of government health care programs will more than double over the next 10 years to $1.8 trillion, representing about 7% of the U.S. economy. The Hill's "Healthwatch," Wall Street Journal.
01/31/2012
Medicare contractors do not adequately track the number of physicians who opt out of the program, making it difficult to determine their reasons for leaving, according to a report from the HHS Office of Inspector General. The number of physicians who opted out of Medicare increased annually between 2006 and 2010, but investigators could not determine why physicians were leaving Medicare because of insufficient data. MedPage Today, Modern Healthcare.
01/30/2012
Medicare is likely to be a major issue in congressional races this year. Democrats plan to criticize the GOP for supporting House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan's Medicare proposal, while Republicans plan to attack Medicare cuts in the federal health reform law. New York Times.
01/30/2012
A new Government Accountability Office report shows that Medicare Advantage plans were overpaid by between $1.2 billion and $3.1 billion in 2010. The report found that MA plans tend to classify their beneficiaries as being sicker than those in fee-for-service Medicare plans, thereby triggering higher payments. House Democrats said the federal government could save billions of dollars annually by adjusting the coding formula used to determine MA payments. The Hill's "Healthwatch" et al.
01/26/2012
State and federal policymakers are looking to the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly as a potential model to save money and improve health care for the elderly and individuals with disabilities. California has five PACE organizations that operate 18 centers. San Francisco Chronicle.
01/25/2012
Yesterday, a bipartisan conference committee met to discuss a yearlong measure to extend a payroll tax cut and delay scheduled reductions to Medicare physician payments. A short-term deal on the payroll tax cut and Medicare "doc fix" expires at the end of next month. AP/U-T San Diego et al.
01/25/2012
During his State of the Union address last night, President Obama spent little time discussing health care issues. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he thought Obama "would rather not discuss" the federal health reform law during his re-election campaign. Politico et al.
01/24/2012
House Republicans recently outlined their 2012 agenda, pledging to focus on Medicare reform and other issues. House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Paul Ryan said the GOP likely would pursue a plan to offer subsidies for Medicare beneficiaries to purchase coverage. CQ Today et al.
01/20/2012
Pilot programs established under the federal health reform law to study Medicare payment reform did not produce significant savings or improve health care quality, according to a Congressional Budget Office brief. On average, the 34 programs that were part of six demonstration projects to improve care coordination for patients with chronic diseases had little or no effect on hospital admissions or Medicare spending. Meanwhile, only one of four programs that offered financial incentives for higher quality care reduced spending, according to CBO. The Hill's "Healthwatch," Modern Healthcare.
01/18/2012
Democrats and Republicans both have agreed to concessions to facilitate the passage of a yearlong measure that would extend a payroll tax cut and delay scheduled reductions to Medicare physician reimbursements. The current two-month "doc fix" expires at the end of next month. New York Times et al.
01/13/2012
CVS Caremark has agreed to pay $5 million to customers of CVS and Walgreen pharmacies to settle an investigation of charges that it misrepresented the price of certain Medicare prescription drugs. CVS will send checks to affected beneficiaries. Wall Street Journal et al.
01/11/2012
A new Congressional Budget Office report estimates that gradually raising Medicare's eligibility age from 65 to 67 would save the federal government about $148 billion over a decade. The savings would come in part by shifting costs to seniors. The Hill's "Healthwatch" et al.