In a letter to Congressional leaders of both parties, President Obama said he was open to four specific ideas raised by Republicans at the daylong healthcare forum last week, including encouraging the use of tax-advantaged medical savings accounts and increasing payments to doctors who treat Medicaid patients, the New York Times reports. President Obama is scheduled to speak about his strategy for passing the bill in remarks at the White House today.
Nonprofit Virtua Health system's has opened its new Health and Wellness Center in Washington Township, NJ. Designers of the center's $3.5 million spa "spared nothing," said Ralph Cioffi, general manager of the spa, a joint venture of the hospital system and the Star Group marketing firm. The 225,000-square-foot Washington Township facility includes a same-day surgery center co-owned by doctors, an express-care center, and a fitness center with indoor track, trainers, and heated pools. The assortment of services is targeted to the region's baby boomers and the well-insured, health analysts told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
President Obama is set to begin a push to rally Congressional Democrats to pass major healthcare legislation with the argument that the costs of failure will be higher insurance premiums and lost coverage for individuals and businesses, the New York Times reports. Officials indicate Obama will contrast Democrats' proposals for expanding coverage and for regulating insurance company practices with what he sees as the shortcomings of the Republicans' incremental plans, reports the Times.
The White House said reconciliation, the leading tactic to win passage of the healthcare bill, was nothing extraordinary, while Republicans accuse the Democratic majority of trying to ram through legislation using a parliamentary trick that Republicans say was never designed for such a big bill, the Wall Street Journal reports. Reconciliation allows the Senate to pass a bill with a simple majority, without needing 60 votes to override a filibuster. In a speech on Wednesday, President Obama is expected to call on Congress to pass the sweeping Democratic health bill using reconciliation.
In this video presented online from C-SPAN, AMA President-Elect Cecil Wilson, MD, talks about the budget for Medicare and Medicaid, proposed Medicare cuts to physician reimbursement, and comments he recently made to HealthLeaders Media.
An Indiana surgeon accused of fraud and malpractice who was arrested in December on an Italian mountainside after more than five years on the run appeared in a U.S. court March 1. Mark Weinberger, MD, is charged with 22 counts of healthcare fraud, including allegations he billed insurance companies for more than $300,000 for unnecessary or never-performed procedures. He also faces about 300 civil lawsuits from former patients, the Associated Press reports.