Posts Tagged ‘President Barack Obama’
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
The federal government has issued revised standards for the “meaningful use” of electronic medical records that will financially reward physicians and hospitals who adopt the new technology. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, physicians and hospitals could receive as much as $27 billion over the next decade if they put patients’ medical records on computer instead of paper. Physicians can be paid up to $44,000 under Medicare and $63,750 for Medicaid. Depending on their size, hospitals have the potential to receive millions of dollars. In 2015, hospitals and physicians face financial penalties under Medicare if they fail to use electronic medical records by the deadline.
Dr. Donald Berwick, the new administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said electronic medical records will lead to “better, smoother care, more reliable care.” Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said “Only 20 percent of doctors and 10 percent of hospitals use even basic electronic health records.” Taking a slightly different perspective, Richard J. Umbdenstock, president of the American Hospital Association (AHA), said the new standards are an improvement over the rules initially proposed but was not convinced that doctors or hospitals would adopt the new technology.
Some physicians believe that using electronic medical records will reduce errors and save patients’ lives. The new standards are flexible and require physicians to meet 15 specific requirements, as well as another five selected from a list of 10 objectives. To fulfill the new standards, physicians will have to submit 40 percent of prescriptions electronically. “We are delaying some of the more ambitious requirements,” said Dr. David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health information technology.
Tags: American College of Cardiology, American Hospital Association, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Dr Donald Berwick, electronic medical records, Kathleen Sebelius, Medicaid, Medicare, Obama administration, President Barack Obama
Posted in Healthcare, Hospital Systems | No Comments »
Monday, July 19th, 2010
Healthcare coverage for uninsured Americans with pre-existing conditions won’t come cheaply. Premiums in the new “high-risk” pool could average $300 to $600 a month in certain states, according to a new government website. The Department of Health and Human Services says that the premiums could range from $140 to as much as $900 a month.
According to Richard Popper, deputy director of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, “There are going to be meaningful premiums that are going to be required to stay in this plan…in the hundreds of dollars.” HealthCare.gov estimates show that monthly premiums for a 50-year-old Floridian would be $552 to $675; for a New Yorker, the average cost would be $400 to $600; $491 to $600 for a Texan; and only $283 for a Pennsylvanian. Coverage under the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan begins on August 1.
Consumer advocates are advising the uninsured who have health problems to sign up quickly - despite the cost - because they cannot be turned down for coverage. The high-risk pool is a temporary solution for at-risk individuals who cannot get healthcare insurance because of a medical condition. The pool will be available until 2014 when healthcare reform takes full effect. At that point, insurance companies will not be allowed to turn down people in poor health. Low- and middle-income individuals will receive subsidized coverage.
Tags: Department of Health and Human Services, healthcare reform, HealthCare.gov, high-risk pools, insurance premiums, pre-existing conditions, President Barack Obama, primary medicine, private insurance
Posted in Healthcare, Healthcare Village, Hospital Systems, Wellness Centers | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
Facing a hostile approval process from Republicans in the Senate, President Barack Obama is making a recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid.
A sharp critic of the way healthcare is delivered in the United States, Berwick believes the system is inefficient and lacks an efficient information-sharing apparatus. In addition to his practice and academic work, Berwick is the founder of the Institute for Health Care Improvement, a think tank that focuses on “cultivating promising concepts for improving patient care and turning those ideas into action.”
Berwick, a Harvard-educated pediatrician and Harvard Medical School professor, believes in improving the quality of healthcare so physicians are rewarded for better outcomes rather than on a per-procedure basis. Although it’s unlikely that this idea could be applied to the whole medical profession, Medicare and Medicaid are large enough that changing the traditional way healthcare is delivered would echo throughout medicine. Together, Medicare and Medicaid cover 100 million Americans - approximately one-third - and accounted for $750 billion of federal spending in 2009. According to the Congressional Budget Office, that totals 20 percent of the federal budget.
“Many Republicans in Congress have made it clear in recent weeks that they were going to stall the nomination as long as they could, solely to score political points,” according to Dan Pfeiffer, White House Communications Director. “But with the agency facing new responsibilities to protect seniors’ care under the Affordable Care Act, there’s no time to waste with Washington game-playing.”
Tags: Affordable Care Act, Congressional Budget Office, Donald Berwick, Harvard Medical School, Healthcare delivery system, Medicaid, Medicare, President Barack Obama, recess appointement, Senate
Posted in Healthcare | No Comments »
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 | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
President Barack Obama is expanding payment recapture audits as a means of fighting waste and abuse in government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The presidential memorandum will direct federal agencies to “expand and intensify” the use of audits, such as those performed by recovery audit contractors and Medicaid integrity contractors. The initiative will extend the scope of such audits beyond fee-for-service payments into other government contracts. The president also will support bipartisan legislation to expand the authority of government agencies to direct recaptured funds toward audits.
The announcement follows an executive order issued by President Obama in November, 2009, that directed the government to aggressively control improper payments, which were said to equal $98 billion. Fully $54 billion of that was attributed to Medicare and Medicaid and reflect an estimate of payments made in error, duplicate billing and even fraud.
Aimed at the political middle and designed to rally support for healthcare reform, the proposal would employ private auditors whose sophisticated computer systems can scan Medicare and Medicaid billing records for patterns of false claims. The auditors would get to keep some of the dollars recovered. According to the White House, a Medicare pilot program recovered approximately $900 million for taxpayer between 2005 and 2008.
Tags: fraud, Medicaid, Medicare, President Barack Obama, recovery audit contractors
Posted in Healthcare, Hospital Systems | No Comments »
Monday, June 28th, 2010
President Barack Obama has called on Congress to enact a patch on Medicare payments to physicians and declared his commitment to achieving a long-term solution. “For years, I have said that a system where doctors are left to wonder if they’ll get fairly reimbursed makes absolutely no sense,” the President said. “And I’m committed to permanently reforming this Medicare formula in a way that balances fiscal responsibility with the responsibility we have to doctors and seniors.” The President’s statement came after legislation that would give physicians 18 months of pay raises stalled in the Senate. Instead, a 21 percent pay cut will go into effect unless the Senate acts to prevent that.
According to an American Medical Association survey, approximately 20 percent of physicians have said they are limiting the number of Medicare patients they treat because of the reimbursement levels. In his speech, President Obama took to task Congressional Republicans who have stalled the legislation. A significant number of Republicans - and some Democrats - are unhappy with the price tag on the “physician fix”, which would cost approximately $22 billion over 18 months. A 10-year fix would cost in the neighborhood of $200 billion.
The American Osteopathic Association, American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Family Physicians are on record as supporting the amendment, even though it doesn’t completely restructure the way physicians are reimbursed by Medicare.
Tags: American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, American Medical Association, American Osteopathic Association, Congress, Democrats, Medicare, Medicare patch, Physician fix, President Barack Obama, Republicans, Senate, senior citizens
Posted in Healthcare, Hospital Systems | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Former President Bill Clinton warned the healthcare insurance industry that they need to move towards being an “in the future business” rather than holding on to obsolete, unsound business models. In a recent keynote speech to America’s Health Insurance Plans’ annual conference, Clinton told the insurers’ trade group that he respected their support for healthcare reform. He cautioned, however, that there is still work to be done.
“We now have to go after the cost in a way that improves the quality,” Clinton said. “You did your part but it’s all gong to be for nothing unless we bring down the cost of healthcare.” Clinton called on Congress to enact an amendment to the new healthcare law that specifically establishes a bipartisan commission whose goal is to determine the best practices in healthcare. Clinton suggested that the panel be patterned after the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which President Barack Obama created in February. Its goal would be to devise solutions that rein in costs and improve the quality of care. According to Clinton, the commission would ideally meet between its creation and 2014, when most of the reforms become effective.
“I don’t really care who’s at fault,” Clinton concluded. “We need to figure out how to fix this healthcare thing.”
Tags: America's Health Insurance Plans, best practices, Bill Clinton, Congress, healthcare reform, insurance companies, National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, President Barack Obama, The Big Dog
Posted in Healthcare, Hospital Systems | No Comments »
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
Posted in Healthcare | No Comments »
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
“The Terminator” has changed his mind. Although he originally opposed healthcare reform as the legislation moved through Congress, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger now fully supports the new federal law. In a speech at the University of California at Davis Medical Center, the governor - who cannot run for re-election because of term limits — broke rank with his fellow Republicans, many of whom have announced their intention to sue the federal government to overturn the law.
“California is not part of this fight, and I’ll tell you why,” according to Schwarzenegger. “When you don’t have health insurance and you go to the hospital, you are forcing other people to pay for your healthcare.” Twenty percent of California residents lack healthcare insurance, a situation that Schwarzenegger says is a crisis that requires resolution. “The bottom line is the plan is not without flaws, but it is a good law,” he said. To fill the void, California is launching a temporary high-risk insurance pool to cover the uninsured that will be funded by $761 million in Department of Health and Human Services money through 2014.
Schwarzenegger also vowed to enforce the law, to the point of making certain that the state’s insurers comply with bans on lifetime spending caps. If necessary, he will call the state Legislature into a special session to make statutory changes to comply with the act’s provisions. “We’re ready to roll up our sleeves and work with the federal government to get this done,” the governor said.
Tags: Arnold Schqarzenegger, California, Congress, Davis Medical Center, Department of Health and Human Services, Governors, healthcare reform legislation, Kathleen Seblius, lifetime spending caps, President Barack Obama, Republicans, The Terminator, University of California
Posted in Healthcare | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Healthcare spending in 2009 reached a record high of 17.3 percent of the nation’s GDP, representing a growth rate of 5.7 percent in a year when the general GDP shrank. The Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit and non-partisan group reports that healthcare costs for the average family have doubled over the past 10 years.
The almost $2.5 trillion spent in 2009 was $134 billion more than 2008, when healthcare ate up 16.2 percent of the GDP, according to an annual report by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). “The health system is hurting, and we are seeing that in these numbers,” said Karen David, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a healthcare policy authority. Federal and state spending on Medicaid - the primary health insurance program for low-income Americans - climbed nearly 10 percent in 2009, according to the report. Medicate spending increased eight percent last year.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average premium for a company-provided family health insurance plan soared from $5,791 in 1999 to $13,375, a 131 percent increase. Employees’ portions of those costs have also risen, from $1,543 on average 10 years ago to $3,515 in 2009.
During 2010, companies said they planned to shift more costs to workers, with 42 percent saying they would increase employees’ premiums and 39 percent said employees would pay more for doctor visits. Another 37 percent said workers would have to pay more for prescriptions. “When healthcare costs continue to rise so much faster than overall inflation in a bad recession, workers and employers really feel the pain. That’s why we are having a health reform debate,” said Drew Altman, Kaiser’s president and CEO.
Tags: Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Commonwealth Fund, GDP, healthcare spending, Kaiser Family Foundation, President Barack Obama
Posted in Healthcare, Hospital Systems | No Comments »
