Health Care News Dec. 6 - 10

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News
THURSDAY
Senate approves bill to stave off rate cut for Medicare docs
The Senate approved a bipartisan bill Wednesday that would prevent a 25% cut in doctors' Medicare reimbursement rates in 2011. The bill, which would cost $19.3 billion over 10 years, would be paid for by changing a provision of the health reform act that provides tax credits for people who buy coverage.
More Big Companies, Unions Win Health Care Waivers
The Obama administration has allowed 222 employers, insurers and unions to opt out of a key mandate in the new health care law – a number that has grown exponentially in the past two months.

WEDNESDAY
Senate bill would stave off rate cut for Medicare docs
The Senate on Tuesday introduced a bipartisan bill that would prevent a 25% cut in doctors' Medicare reimbursement rates in 2011. The bill, which would cost $19.3 billion over 10 years, would be paid for by changing a provision of the health reform act that provides tax credits for people who buy coverage.
More Health Waivers
The Obama Administration has quietly granted even more waivers to one provision of the new federal health reform law, doubling the number in just the last three weeks to a new total of 222.
Approved Applications for Waiver of the Annual Limits Requirements of the PHS Act Section 2711 as of December 3, 2010
Applications for waivers from annual limit requirements are reviewed on a case by case basis by Department officials who look at a series of factors including whether or not a premium increase is large or if a significant number of enrollees would lose access to their current plan because the coverage would not be offered in the absence of a waiver.
Medicaid Could Save Billions with Medicare-Like Changes
Medicaid could save more than $30 billion over the next decade on prescription drugs by adopting practices used in Medicare Part D, a new study argues.

TUESDAY
Investigation Finds Millions in Medicare Dollars Wasted on Stents
According to the investigation by the Senate Finance Committee, Abbott Laboratories, a Chicago-based pharmaceutical company, rewarded a Baltimore-based doctor with more than $30,000, trips, and crab feasts for performing medical procedures that were potentially unnecessary.
GOP's odd bid to kill health reform
If there is one more thing your typical Republican politician does not care for, it is frivolous lawsuits that clog the courts and unfairly burden innocent doctors and small-business persons as they go about trying to create jobs. “The rule of law does not mean the rule of lawyers,” the 2008 GOP platform wittily observed.
Deal reached to fix Medicare doc pay
Senate leaders have reached a tentative, one-year deal on the Medicare “doc-fix,” sources close to the negotiations say.

MONDAY
Haley Asks Obama to Repeal Health Care
South Carolina Republican Gov.-elect Nikki Haley isn’t wasting time making a name for herself. In a meeting with the new class of governors and President Obama, Haley frankly asked Obama if he would repeal health care reform.
Medicare Chief Gets Ovation, Security Escort
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick got a standing ovation after his speech Friday at the National Committee for Quality Assurance.conference in Washington, and then got help from security to exit the building.
Doc fix new weapon vs. health reform
Despite rampant repeal rhetoric, Republicans have so far struggled to dismantle any part of health reform. Now, they see a new path forward: pilfer health reform dollars to pay for the next "doc fix," the must-pass patch to Medicare doctor payments.

Economist Comments
THURSDAY
America Wants Congress to Repeal Obamacare -- Now It's Time to Get to Work
The American people have spoken, and the message they have sent to Washington is clear: Americans want Obamacare ripped out of the U.S. Code by the roots. With their actions, America’s voters have shown that they want the 112th Congress to make Obamacare repeal a reality.

WEDNESDAY
Medicare needs sustainable 'doc fix'
It's no surprise then that doctors are up in arms about the latest "doc fix" — the fourth temporary postponement of a 23% cut in their Medicare reimbursement.

TUESDAY
How to Save Medicaid
States are desperate to control costs. What works and what doesn't?
Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski: Striking down individual mandate would mean ending Obamacare
Litigation over Obamacare's individual mandate has captured the public's attention. But the ultimate goal in challenging the constitutionality of President Obama's health care law is not the mandate; it's severability.

MONDAY
Flexible Spending Accounts: New Rules
With one month left to exhaust any money remaining in flexible spending accounts, it’s time for the annual ritual of stocking up on aspirin, re-ordering contact lenses and squeezing in one more round of skincare treatment . But starting next year, new rules will make that drugstore shopping spree a lot harder -- which means re-thinking how you spend this year’s money, and how much you allocate for 2011.

Blogs
FRIDAY
Emergency Rooms: The Canary in the Health Care Coal Mine
 I've spent a lot of time in some pretty crowded ERs in some pretty poor areas, but I've never experienced a 12 hour wait time.
Congress Does a 'Doc Fix'
During the run-up to health care reform, a number of conservatives argued that the Democrats were dishonestly excluding from the cost of legislation the "doc fix".

THURSDAY
What caused outpatient spending growth?
Outpatient spending took off around 1983. What caused it to grow and why 1983? A shift in the proportion of surgeries from the inpatient to the outpatient setting and an increase in ambulatory treatment seems to be the general answer.
If You (Insurers) Pay, They (Docs) Will Charge
Devon Herrick, looked at rates of increase of prices and found that the price of cosmetic surgery, one of the few medical procedures which is almost entirely paid for by the people getting it, increased at less than one third the rate for medical care in general.

WEDNESDAY
Doctors Avoid Medicare Pay Cut for Another Year—but Then What?
Senate leaders reached an agreement Monday to delay cuts to physician reimbursement rates under Medicare for one year. The details of the negotiations have yet to be ironed out, but if the deal makes it through Congress, doctors will avert a 23 percent pay cut scheduled for January 1.
What Doctors Have to Say About Obamacare
No one is more familiar with the health care system than doctors. So what do they have to say about Obamacare? Nothing good, according to a recent survey.

TUESDAY
How to Save Medicaid
While I understand that people become dependent on government payment, it seems that one of Medicaid’s main problems is the fact that over the years, the program has moved away from its original mission, which was to provide health care for the poorest members of society.

Reports
WEDNESDAY
New Health Affairs Study Suggests That Private Insurers Control Health Care Spending Better Than Medicare
The study, shows that in two Texas cities, sharp differences in Medicare's per-capita health care spending were significantly diminished when private insurance paid the bill.