The drive to create a bipartisan commission to help control the cost of health spending and address mounting deficits picked up momentum as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and a handful of moderate Democrats and Republicans voiced support for the effort. The commission would draft proposals to control the long-term costs of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, which together account for 40% of all federal spending other than interest on the debt. The recommendations would require a swift vote by a supermajority of members of Congress, to assure bipartisan support for unpopular measures to cut sensitive spending programs or to raise taxes if necessary.
An event where 80 people had their head shaved to raise money to enhance cancer research and treatment at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, raised more than $200,000 for the facility. The goal was to raise enough money to make the hospital a comprehensive cancer center. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis is the only pediatric cancer center to be given the designation by the National Cancer Institute.
Indiana's human services agency announced it will slice $10 million from its budget by paying hospitals less to treat Medicaid patients. However, the Family and Social Services administration will not reduce its Medicaid payments to doctors or cut "vital services" to the young, elderly, disabled, and needy Indiana residents who receive social safety-net benefits, agency officials said. The president of the Indiana Hospital Association, though, said the cuts in Medicaid reimbursements "represent a significant blow" to hospitals' ability to serve their communities.
The University of Kansas Hospital set records for patient volume in its most recent fiscal year, according to audited financial statements provided to the hospital board. The inpatient discharges for the year that ended June 30 were 24,209, up more than 8% from 22,393 the previous year. The hospital reported 337,359 outpatient encounters in fiscal 2009, up about 13% from 298,920 the prior year.
The White House is facing a growing revolt from some Democrats and analysts who say the health reform bills Congress is considering do not fulfill President Obama's promise to slow the runaway rise in healthcare spending. President Obama has made cost containment a centerpiece of his health reform agenda, and in May industry groups pledged voluntary efforts to trim the growth of healthcare spending by 1.5%, or $2 trillion, over the next decade. But health economists say it is impossible to know whether the bills, including one passed by the House, would meet that goal, and many are skeptical that they even come close, the New York Times reports.
A provision in the House healthcare bill would limit how much insurers can vary premiums based on the age of the person buying the policy. The narrower the range, the lower the premiums for older people, a help to those who currently pay some of the highest rates for insurance and often need coverage the most. But such a limitation tends to raise premiums for younger people, who are sometimes reluctant to buy coverage, the Wall Street Journal reports.