Posts Tagged ‘House of Representatives’
Thursday, December 2nd, 2010
The Senate is on the verge of passing emergency legislation to postpone the 25 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements until January 1, 2011, according to leaders on the Senate Finance Committee. Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) said “Working together, this agreement makes certain that seniors and military families can be confident they will be able to see a doctor and get the medicines they need. It is our hope the Senate will pass this package as soon as possible to give doctors, seniors and military families the care and the certainty they deserve.” The House of Representatives next must pass the bill and send it to President Obama for his signature by December 1. According to the Senators’ statement, the extra funds required to extend the cut will come from the Physician Payment and Therapy Relief Act of 2010.
“Once signed into law by the President, it will mean that seniors and military families are spared the threat of a lapse in care. The next step is moving onto finding a yearlong extension before this fix runs out,” according to Baucus
The American Medical Association (AMA) and other physician groups applauded the Senate’s action. “The Senate’s action to stop the Medicare cut for one month will help avert a healthcare crisis for seniors that would have begun in just two weeks,” said Cecil Wilson, M.D., the AMA’s president. “This is a short-term reprieve and the AMA is urging Congress to pass a one-year fix. Delaying the 25 percent cut to the end of 2011 will inject some stability into the Medicare program for patients and physicians and provide lawmakers with time to develop a long-term solution to the broken physician payment system.”
Tags: American Medical Association, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, House of Representatives, Medicare, Physician Payment and Therapy Relief Act of 2010, President Barack Obama, Senate, Senate Finance Committee, Senator Charles Grassley, Senator Max Baucus, SGR, Sustainable Growth Rate formula, Tricare
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Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
A recent investigation by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce has found that many individual health insurance policies do not cover maternity care. The news is no surprise for women who are covered by these policies and experienced a rude awakening when they became pregnant. The four largest for-profit health insurers – Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint – don’t cover normal deliveries for their members who have individual policies. The committee’s report confirms a 2009 report by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) that scrutinized 3,600 individual policies and determined that just 13 percent provide maternity coverage. For women with these policies, it gets even worse should they become pregnant. At that point, if they apply for coverage in the individual market, insurers typically determine that pregnancy is a pre-existing medical condition and deny coverage on that basis. Maternity riders are offered on some policies, but they are extremely expensive, provide very limited coverage and might take as long as a year to become effective, according to the NWLC. The average cost of maternity care – nine months of prenatal care, three months of post-partum care and a delivery without complications – averaged $10,652 in 2007, a March of Dimes study reported. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 exempts companies with less than 15 employees and individual policies from providing maternity coverage, although some states maintain stricter requirements. This year, 12 states mandate maternity coverage in the individual insurance market and 17 in the small-group market, according to statehealthfacts.org, a project of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, this coverage gap will cease to exist in 2014.
Tags: Aetna, America’s Health Insurance Plans, For-profit insurers, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, Humana, Individual insurance policies, Kaiser Family Foundation, March of Dimes, Maternity coverage, National Women’s Law Center, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, UnitedHealth Group, Wellpoint
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Monday, November 8th, 2010
Now that the GOP has retaken control of the House of Representatives, one of their overarching goals – according to Speaker-of-the-House-to-be John Boehner (R-OH) – is to repeal the landmark Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act that would provide healthcare coverage for millions of Americans who now have no insurance.
In Boehner’s own words, “The American people are concerned about the government takeover of healthcare,” he said. “I think it is important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity and replace it with common-sense reforms that will bring down the cost of healthcare insurance in America.” “Republicans will roll back whatever they can on healthcare,” noted Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director.
Yet, there’s no hard evidence that the Republicans want to replace the current law with their own version of healthcare reform. The GOP vision would give states the power to fund programs that extend coverage to some uninsured Americans. People would also be allowed to carry insurance policies across state lines. Mandates and government-run insurance pool would be non-existent. Additionally, Republican legislation would cap court malpractice awards and help people direct more pretax money into healthcare savings accounts. The Republican plan is anticipated to cut deficits by $68 billion over a decade. On the downside, it would cover only about three million of the uninsured, leaving 52 million Americans with no healthcare coverage, according to Douglas Elmendorf, who is currently the Congressional Budget Office director.
There’s a significant roadblock in the way of the Republicans’ healthcare plan: the presidential veto, which can be overturned only by a 2/3 vote in both houses of Congress. “It would be a symbolic vote – a vote of intention rather than reality,” said Joseph Antos of the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute.
Complicating the situation is the fact that some aspects of healthcare reform already in effect are quite popular, such as the provisions forcing insurers to cover children with pre-existing conditions and allowing parents to keep kids up to age 26 on their policies.
Tags: Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Department of Health and Human Services, GOP, House of Representatives, IRS, John Boehner, Medicare, Obamacare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama, repeal
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Thursday, July 8th, 2010
With the narrow 219 – 212 passage of healthcare reform legislation by the House of Representatives, its positive impact on commercial real estate is becoming clear. Jeffrey H. Cooper, an international investment banker who specializes in healthcare facilities with Savills, believes that the potential exists to develop more than 60 million SF of new medical office buildings.
Cooper believes that passage of the healthcare reform bill will impact four areas:
- With 30 million new insured Americans seeking healthcare, the need for medical facilities to serve them will expand.
- By using the standard multiplier that calculates that each new outpatient requires 1.9 SF of medical office space, 30 million newly insured individuals will require that approximately 57 million SF be constructed.
- As reimbursements for inpatient treatment are reduced, there will be a simultaneous need for the development of new ambulatory treatment facilities and medical office buildings.
- As the demand for new capital projects grows, hospitals will seek out third-party financing and ownership. This is particularly true in cases where tax-exempt bond financing is not available.
With more than 30 years of real estate investment banking experience, Cooper is likely on the right track here.
Tags: commercial real estate, healthcare reform legislation, House of Representatives, Jeffrey Cooper, medical office buidlings, President Barack Obama, primary care, Savills
Posted in Healthcare, Hospital Systems | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
The Obama administration will work hand-in-hand with House Democrats to sell healthcare reform legislation to a wary public once members of Congress return to their home districts over the summer break. Nancy-Ann DeParle, the White House’s healthcare reform czar, assured the legislators that the Obama administration will help them explain the ins and outs of the new law. DeParle and other officials clarified precisely what the new law will change immediately, such as an expansion of health insurance and tax credits for small business.
Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said “They’re certainly focused on both implementation and doing that well, and in communicating with Americans about the benefits they will see.” Schwartz noted that many lawmakers are presently answering constituents’ questions; this is expected to increase during the Congressional break and in the lead-up to the 2010 mid-term elections.
Representative Dale Kildee (D-MI) wants to see a joint effort between Congress and President Barack Obama to sell the new law, saying “The No. 1 spokesman for this lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and he can do a great job of it.”
Congress members who voted against healthcare reform are jumping on the bandwagon now that the law is starting to take effect. One of the former antis is Representative Dan Lipinski (D-IL), who said “I’ll make sure people are aware of things that are available. I’ve always said that there are some good things in the bill and I want to make sure that people are able to take advantage of those.”
Tags: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 2010 mid-term elections, Allyson Schwartz, Dale Kildee, Dan Lipinski, Democrats, healthcare reform legislation, House of Representatives, House Ways and Means Committee, Nancy-Ann DeParle, President Barack Obama
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Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
The word on the European street and in the press is that it’s long past time that the United States fixed its broken healthcare system. “On Sunday evening the richest, most powerful world in the country, the USA, finally entered the 20th century. Yes, not the 21st century, but the 20th,” according to an article published on Rue89.com, a widely read French website. Rue89.com also posted Time magazine’s November, 2008, cover depicting President Barack Obama as a modern day Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Similarly, the Dutch newspaper De Volksrant reported that “Where healthcare was until now a closed privilege, Obama and the Democrats have made it a law. One of the most important differences between America and other industrialized countries has finally been lifted.”
Europeans demand high-quality public services – such as healthcare and education – and vote politicians out of office if they don’t deliver. Taxes in Europe may be somewhat higher than in the United States, but medical fees are subsidized by governments and are significantly cheaper. The French, for example, pay just $30 for a doctor visit. Additionally, European insurance companies cannot reject applications because of pre-existing conditions.
“It was a scandal that the world’s richest country for so long offered its citizens such pitiful protection against illness or injury,” wrote Gregor Peter Schmitz, Washington correspondent for the German publication Der Spiegel. “It seems entirely possible that, in 10 years time, Americans will find it hard to believe that they didn’t always have the right to health insurance.”
Tags: De Volksrant, Der Spiegel, Europe, Franklin Roosevelt, healthcare reform, House of Representatives, Le Figaro, President Barack Obama
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Thursday, March 25th, 2010
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Speaker of the House, presided over the often fractious but historic healthcare reform overhaul vote with the help of an oversized gavel borrowed from Representative John Dingell (D-MI), who chaired the passage of the Medicare bill 45 years ago. “A treasure in the Dingell family that was used in the enactment of the Medicare law,” Pelosi said. “I will use it this evening when we cast a very successful vote for this important legislation. This has been a complete team effort, not only a team effort, a partnership with our leadership and every member of our caucus and we look forward to making this historic day known to the American people.”
The late Sunday evening passage of the healthcare reform bill by a thin 219 – 212 margin was described by President Barack Obama as “This is what change looks like.” All 178 House Republicans and 34 Democrats voted against the legislation, which ultimately will cover 32,000,000 Americans who currently lack healthcare coverage. Also on Sunday, the House passed a package of “fixes” that will resolve some of the conflicts between the House and Senate versions of the healthcare bill. Senate Democrats plan to pass the fixes under budget reconciliation, which requires a simple majority vote.
The president, who plans to sign the bill, said “Tonight, after nearly 100 years of talk and frustration, after decades of trying, and a year of sustained effort and debate, the United States Congress finally declared that America’s workers and America’s families and America’s small businesses deserve the security of knowing that here, in this country, neither illness nor accident should endanger the dreams they’ve worked a lifetime to achieve.”
“This is the Civil Rights Act of the 21st century,” said Representative James E. Clyburn (D-SC), the third highest ranking Democrat in the House.
Tags: Budget reconciliation, David Axelrod, Democrats, healthcare reform, House of Representatives, James E Clyburn, John Dingell, John McCain, Medicare, Nancy Pelosi, President Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Republicans, Robert Gibbs, Senate, Speaker of the House
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Monday, March 22nd, 2010
Senate Democrats may tack an overhaul of the student loan program onto the healthcare reform bill, potentially handing President Barack Obama with a double victory on two of his top domestic priorities. According to Senator Dick Durbin, Majority Whip (D-IL), “There was a stronger feeling for including” the education proposal, although he admitted that a final decision has not yet been made. The proposal would shift subsidies that currently support private lenders to other student assistance programs, including Pell Grants for families who struggle to pay college tuition. “Some of the things accomplished here are really going to help a lot of people across American” Durbin said.
The leadership in both the House of Representatives and the Senate seemed to be on the verge of attaching the student loan bill to a package of fixes to the healthcare legislation. House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA), who is a proponent of combining the two measures, said “Senators have a simple choice here. They can either choose to continue sending tens of billions of wasteful subsidies to lenders, or they can invest that money directly in students and families. It’s critical. People have made it very clear that they want to take this home.”
The Congressional Budget Office said the Senate healthcare bill will cost $875 billion over 10 years and cut the deficit by $118 billion. President Obama’s proposal, which contains negotiated provisions from the House bill, could add an additional $100 billion to the ultimate cost. The Senate’s parliamentarian has ruled that combining the bills will work, assuming legislators reach the right balance on the final price tag.
Tags: Congressional Budget Office, Democrats, Dick Durbin, filibuster, Harry Reid, healthcare reform legislation, House of Representatives, Kent Conrad, Majority Whip, Medicaid, Medicare, Nancy Pelosi, Pell Grants, President Barack Obama, Senate, Senate Budget Committee, Speaker of the House, student loan program
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Monday, March 15th, 2010
Two Democratic Congressmen – Representatives Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Bart Stupak (D-MI) – may torpedo President Barack Obama’s efforts to reform the way healthcare is delivered in the United States. Both Congressmen are threatening to cross party lines and vote with House Republicans, who are united in their solid opposition to healthcare reform.
Kucinich justifies his “no” vote on the fact the legislation lacks a robust public option – a provision that the Republicans staunchly oppose – and describes the bill as a “giveaway” to the insurance companies. Republicans have called on the president to dump the bill, saying it is too expensive, complicated and burdensome on businesses and individuals who will be required to buy healthcare insurance, often with government subsidies.
Stupak is threatening to vote to defeat healthcare reform for an entirely different reason. His objection is that the legislation might allow federal funds to be used to reimburse patients for abortions. “Yes. We’re prepared to take responsibility,” Stupak said on “Good Morning America” when asked if he and 11 other Democrat were willing to accept the consequences for bringing down healthcare reform over abortion. “Let’s face it. I want to see healthcare. But we’re not going to bypass the principles of belief that we feel strongly about,” he said.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reiterated that when it comes to this issue, the administration merely wants to maintain the status quo and believes that Stupak ultimately will be persuaded to vote with his fellow Democrats. “This is not a bill about abortion. This is about healthcare reform,” Gibbs said.
Tags: abortion, acceptable healthcare coverage, Bart Stupak, Congress, Dennis Kucinich, healthcare reform, House of Representatives, President Barack Obama, public option, Republicans, Robert Gibbs, Senate, Stupak Amendment
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Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
The rationale for healthcare reform is simple – cover most of the population and rein in rising costs. But what happens if healthcare reform isn’t enacted? The answer is not good.
“Failure to enact health reform will result in increasing numbers of people without health insurance because fewer employers will offer it and many employees will not be able to pay the cost of plans that are available,” says Stephen Zuckerman, a health economist at the Urban Institute think tank in Washington, D.C. “For people not offered employer coverage, many will not be able to get coverage due to pre-existing conditions that insurers won’t cover or because premiums won’t be affordable. Even people with coverage will find costs becoming a greater financial burden.”
The numbers are startling. Americans paid $2.5 trillion for healthcare in 2009, equal to 17.3 percent of the nation’s GDP. As the economy starts to grow again, so will healthcare costs. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates that without reform, healthcare will rise to 19.3 percent of the GDP by 2019. According to Urban Institute statistics, if healthcare reform is not enacted, the number of Americans without insurance will climb to 57 million or 20.1 percent of the population – and that is the best-case scenario.
The 16.5 percent of Americans now covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program will rise to 18.3 percent. Medicare and Medicaid spending will cost approximately $725 billion in 2010, 50 percent more than Congress appropriates for all other domestic agencies. By 2014, the cost is projected to be $950 billion.
Inaction will only increase the budget deficit. Peter Orszag, the White House budget director, warns that “The fiscal course that we’re on, out in 2020 and 2030 and 2040, is unsustainable and needs to be addressed. If we don’t address rising healthcare costs, there’s nothing else that we’re going to be able to do that will alter that basic fact.”
Tags: Centers for Medicaid Services, Centers for Medicare, compromise, Congress, health economist, healthcare reform, House of Representatives, insurance premiums, Medicaid, Peter Orszag, pre-existing conditions, President Barack Obama, Senate, Stephen Zuckerman, think tank, Urban Institute
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