Representative Charles B. Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said that there was "no way" he would support taxing employer-provided health benefits, Americans' leading source of coverage. The comment came after a committee hearing with the new secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius. Rangel's remark was the clearest indication yet of the difficulties Democrats may have in raising money to fulfill President Obama's campaign promise of offering health insurance to all Americans.
The Obama administration plans to spend $1.1 billion over the next few years on studies to compare the effectiveness of competing treatments for common conditions like back pain, heart disease, and prostate cancer. The studies will be publicly released, to help doctors and patients decide which treatment options they want to pursue. Supporters include many medical researchers, consumer groups, unions, and insurers. But potential opponents warn that the comparative effectiveness movement could lead to inadequate treatment for some patients and even the rationing of healthcare.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services unleashed its actuaries to determine whether hospitals received excess payments as a result of coding increased severity under the MS-DRGs that didn't reflect a real change in case mix. The actuaries have completed their analysis of FY 2008 claims and found that hospitals were overpaid 2.5%, or $2.2 billion, in that year alone. As a result, CMS is proposing "draconian" corrective action, says this analysis from Sg2.
South Florida's reputation as the capital of Medicare fraud came under the congressional spotlight with U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta telling a Senate panel the best tool for fighting scams is tightening oversight at the top. Acosta, who since 2006 has prosecuted more than 700 people responsible for more than $2 billion in fraudulent Medicare billings, told the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging that he started focusing on fraud because he was "absolutely disgusted" by the level of scams in South Florida.
Jefferson Parish's three large hospitals stand to lose a combined $20 million from recent emergency cuts to Louisiana's Medicaid reimbursement rates, a hospital administrator said. The state Department of Health and Hospitals issued emergency rules cutting Medicaid reimbursement rates on Feb. 20 by 3.5%, and again May 1 by 7.2%. Nancy Cassagne, chief executive officer for West Jefferson Medical Center, said the cuts will aggravate brutal market conditions that have left New Orleans hospitals operating in the red since Hurricane Katrina.
A former Orange County, CA, real estate developer has donated $21 million to University of California-Irvine for the school's new hospital. The posthumous donation was made by M.A. Douglas, who died last June. The hospital will now be renamed UC Irvine Douglas Hospital. UCI had reached $32 million of its $50-million fundraising goal for the new 424-bed hospital before Douglas' gift.