A survey conducted by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists indicates that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services decision to eliminate consultation codes will force four out of five endocrinologists to reduce the number of Medicare patients seen in their practices. The CMS decision, which will go into effect in January 2010, will no longer allow endocrinologists and other specialists to bill for consultations provided for patients referred to them by primary care physicians and written reports will no longer have to be provided to referring physicians, according to the AACE.
Senior Senate Democrats reached tentative agreement to abandon the government-run insurance plan in their health-overhaul bill and to expand Medicare coverage to some people ages 55 to 64. The American Medical Association said it opposes expanding Medicare because doctors face steep pay cuts under the program and many Medicare patients are struggling to find a doctor.
Senate Democrats largely embraced a compromise that dropped a "public option" from healthcare legislation, setting aside their concerns about aspects of the consensus plan in the hopes that the deal would serve as a rallying point in their push for the passage of reforms, the Washington Post reports. But industry groups representing doctors and hospitals attacked one of the alternatives in the deal, designed to take the place of a proposed government-run insurance program. They argued that a plan to allow uninsured individuals as young as 55 to buy into Medicare would be financially untenable and would jeopardize access to healthcare services for millions of Americans.
President Barack Obama endorsed a Senate Democratic compromise that backed away from a big government-run health plan, calling the idea a "creative framework" that could propel a health bill to passage, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama said senators had "made critical progress" with a compromise that would "help pave the way for final passage." He added, "I support this effort, especially since it's aimed at increasing choice and competition and lowering cost."
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is pushing for legislation that would require public reporting by drug- and device-makers on an annual basis. Grassley and Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) say their bipartisan Physician Payments Sunshine Act would require annual reporting "by drug, device, and biologic manufacturers of payments made to physicians nationwide."
The busy emergency room at Aria Health's Frankford campus in Philadelphia was on "divert" status for 121 hours last month. For an average of four hours a day, things were so tight that ambulances were advised to take patients elsewhere, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. It is unclear whether high volume at the hospital played any role in the death of Joaquin Rivera, whose watch was later stolen, while he waited for care Nov. 28. But healthcare experts and one state official say there is clearly a crunch at the facility—due in part to the closing of nearby Northeastern Hospital, which used to see at least 45,000 emergency patients a year, the Inquirer reports.