- How Obama Plans To Cut Health Programs By $320 Billion
- Insuring Your Health: Employers Increasingly Trimming Or Cutting Disability Benefits
- Political Cartoon: 'Is It A Sign?'
ADMINISTRATION NEWS
- Obama Plan Includes $320 Billion In Medicare, Medicaid Cuts Over 10 Years
- Politics, Posturing Swirl Around Obama Plan
MEDICARE
- MedPAC Offers Possible Offsets For Medicare Physician Pay Fix
- Big Monthly Premium Hikes Likely Next Year For Medicare Rx Plans
HEALTH REFORM
CAMPAIGN 2012
HEALTH CARE MARKETPLACE
PUBLIC HEALTH & EDUCATION
STATE WATCH
- Kansas Medicaid 'Imperiled,' Says Lt. Governor
- State Roundup: Brownback Blasted For Rejecting Federal Grant
EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
KHN ORIGINAL REPORTING & GUEST OPINION
How Obama Plans To Cut Health Programs By $320 Billion
Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz reports: "In his plan to trim the federal deficit, President Barack Obama Monday proposed $320 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, largely by changing how the federal government pays health providers, slashing payments to drug companies, and dramatically changing the way it splits the costs of Medicaid with the states, according to a fact sheet the White House released" (Galewitz, 9/20). Read the story.
Insuring Your Health: Employers Increasingly Trimming Or Cutting Disability Benefits
In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "Disability insurance is one of those under-the-radar benefits you may take for granted, especially if your employer picks up the tab for the coverage, as many firms do. Because of that, as annual benefit enrollment time approaches you probably aren't worried about examining your disability coverage details and costs the way you will your health insurance plan options. But you should" (Andrews, 9/20). Read the column.
Political Cartoon: 'Is It A Sign?'
Kaiser Health News provides a fresh perspective on health policy developments with "Is It A Sign?" by Jen Sorensen.ADMINISTRATION NEWS
Obama Plan Includes $320 Billion In Medicare, Medicaid Cuts Over 10 Years
The squeeze will be felt by future Medicare recipients, in reduced payments to drug companies and hospitals, and with higher costs to states. And, though many parts of the health sector are grumbling about the proposal, some health advocates say the president's vision is less painful than some of the ideas that have recently been on the table.
The New York Times: Obama Proposes $320 Billion In Medicare And Medicaid Cuts Over 10 Years
Mr. Obama proposed higher premiums and deductibles for many Medicare beneficiaries and lower Medicare payments to teaching hospitals and rural hospitals. He would start charging co-payments to frail homebound older people who receive home health services. And he would reduce the growth of federal payments to states for treating low-income people under Medicaid (9/19).
Kaiser Health News: How Obama Plans To Cut Health Programs By $320 Billion
Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz reports: "In his plan to trim the federal deficit, President Barack Obama Monday proposed $320 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, largely by changing how the federal government pays health providers, slashing payments to drug companies, and dramatically changing the way it splits the costs of Medicaid with the states, according to a fact sheet the White House released" (Galewitz, 9/20).
The Associated Press/Washington Post: Obama's Deficit Plan Targets Drug Companies, Hospitals And Future Medicare Beneficiaries
Health care savings in President Barack Obama's deficit-reduction plan would squeeze future Medicare recipients, cut payments to drug companies and hospitals, and shift costs to states. Still, some advocates say the president's approach is less painful than other major ideas being debated this year, from privatizing Medicare to letting the states run Medicaid without a federal guarantee that the poor would get needed care (9/20).
Bloomberg: Drug Spending Targeted In Obama's $320 Billion Health Cut
President Barack Obama’s deficit-trimming proposal would cut $320 billion from U.S. health programs in prescription drug and nursing home spending and by increasing individuals’ payments for Medicare coverage. The biggest reduction is $135 billion in drug prices the government pays companies led by New York-based Pfizer Inc. (PFE) and Merck & Co. of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, for low-income beneficiaries. The White House released its plan today (Armstrong, 9/20).
NPR: To Cut Deficit, Obama Takes A Scalpel To Health Programs
President Obama's plan to cut the deficit doesn't exactly spare Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs. But he also doesn't propose the sweeping sorts of changes envisioned by House Republicans earlier this year (Rovner, 9/20).
The Wall Street Journal: Obama Yokes Benefit Cuts To New Taxes
Mr. Obama's plan wouldn't leave Medicare untouched. Changes to that program and Medicaid — in large part coming from cuts in payments to drug companies and long-term care providers — are part of $580 billion in proposed cuts to mandatory spending programs (Lee and Bendavid, 9/20).
CQ HealthBeat: Obama Plan Would Make $320 Billion In Health Cuts, Including Medicare, Medicaid
The deficit reduction plan President Obama announced Monday morning includes $320 billion in health cuts over a decade; $248 billion of the reductions would come from Medicare and $73 billion from Medicaid. What Obama did not recommend was an increase in the Medicare eligibility age, something that up until this past weekend White House aides said was still being discussed in the West Wing (Reichard, Norman, 9/19).
The Fiscal Times: How Obama Sticks It to the Health Care Industry
The president proposed cutting ACA subsidies for seniors who qualify for Medicaid by counting their Social Security payments as income. The failure to do so was considered a glitch in reform law. However, the $14.6 billion over the next 10 years raised from low-income seniors has already been targeted by both Republicans and Democrats on the Hill to help pay for keeping physician payment rates stable next year (Goozner, 9/20).
The Hill: Almost All Stakeholders Grumble About Obama Health Care Cuts
Obama's plan would cut programs that many Democrats prize and bolster initiatives that Republicans have attacked. It would require seniors to pay more for their Medicare benefits while cutting payments to doctors. It would shift Medicaid costs to the states. And it’s anathema to powerful health care industries including hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. Even some groups that strongly supported Obama’s health care reform effort were sharply critical of the proposals he unveiled Monday. AARP blasted sections of the plan that would require seniors to pay more for certain Medicare benefits. The proposals would raise deductibles and require co-pays for some services (Baker, 9/19).
Medscape: Obama Deficit Plan Has Medicare Provider, Beneficiary Cuts
Physicians would feel their nick in a number of ways: ... [The Obama administration] wants to end an "add-on payment" for physicians and hospitals in certain low-population states in 2013, .... would require prior authorization for the most expensive imaging services, beginning in 2013, along with lower reimbursement for them. ... As part of an initiative to reduce improper Medicare payments, the administration would penalize providers who fail to update their enrollment information (Lowes, 9/19).
Reuters: Hospitals, Drugmakers Lash Out At Obama Deficit Plan
The U.S. hospital and drug industries lashed out at provisions of President Barack Obama's deficit reduction plan that would saddle them with more than $200 billion in federal health care spending cuts. Lobbyists vowed to fight proposals for Medicare, which covers the elderly, that are aimed at saving $135 billion on prescriptions by requiring drugmakers to provide steeper rebates similar to those for Medicaid, which covers the poor. Another $42 billion would come from adjustments in Medicare payments to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and in-patient rehabilitation centers (Morgan, 9/19).
Modern Healthcare: Proposed Cuts Seen As Threat To Care, Jobs
President Barack Obama's recommended Medicare and Medicaid cuts issued today to the congressional deficit reduction super committee will reduce beneficiaries' access to care and eliminate at least 200,000 jobs over the coming decade, according to a leading hospital advocate. Richard Umbdenstock, president and CEO of the American Hospital Association, blasted the president's ideas to reduce federal health care spending by $320 billion over 10 years as "the wrong prescription" for national health and employment, according to a written statement from the AHA (Daly, 9/19).
Politics, Posturing Swirl Around Obama Plan
President Barack Obama made clear that any cuts to entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid had to be accompanied by increased taxes for wealthy people and corporations. Many news outlets are analyzing the impact of the line in the sand he drew on the issues.
CBS: Obama Steals Thunder From Super Committee With Veto Threat
After the marathon negotiation to raise the nation's legal borrowing limit resulted in a stop-gap creation of the so-called "Super Committee" of a dozen lawmakers to work out a compromise on deficit reduction, some pundits said the panel would have too much power. President Obama on Monday might have just taken their power away. As he unveiled his $3 trillion deficit reduction plan, he pledged to veto any legislation that takes the part of his plan changing Medicare that does not also include his proposal to raise taxes on the richest Americans. Since half of the panel — the six Republicans — has pledged not to raise taxes on anyone under any circumstances, compromise is even more difficult today than it was at the panel's creation (Daly, 9/19).
The New York Times: Obama Draws New Hard Line On Long-Term Debt Reduction
Faced with falling poll numbers for his leadership and an anxious party base, Mr. Obama did not just propose but insisted that any long-term debt-reduction plan must not shave future Medicare benefits without also raising taxes on the wealthiest taxpayers and corporations (Calmes, 9/20).
Los Angeles Times: Obama's Deficit Proposal Marks A Move Away From Compromise
Gone was the effort to strike a deal with Republicans. Gone were the summertime proposals to consider raising the eligibility age for Medicare or to change the cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security. Gone too was the conciliatory language about finding common ground and challenging the orthodoxies of both parties. In their place was a firm veto threat, changes in Medicare that would largely protect beneficiaries, a demand for higher taxes from the wealthy and a catchy slogan, the "Buffett rule," designed to convey Obama's belief that people earning more than $1 million a year should not be able to pay a lower tax rate than middle-income households (Nicholas and Mascaro, 9/19).
The Washington Post: Obama Proposes New Taxes On Wealthy For Half Of Debt Plan
In a Rose Garden address on Monday, the president urged lawmakers to find even greater savings. And he vowed to veto any approach that does not include new levies on the wealthy alongside any benefit cuts in Medicare, the health insurance program for the nation's retirees. He proposed nearly $250 billion in Medicare savings, largely by reducing excessive payments (Goldfarb, 9/19).
The New York Times: In Deficit Plans, Obama Drops Compromise For Confrontation
The key points of the plan read like a mirror image of the priorities espoused by House Republicans. The president proposed raising taxes by $1.5 trillion, mostly on the wealthy, while making only modest cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, and walling off Social Security from any changes. The plan also would reduce military spending by more than $1 trillion (Applebaum, 9/19).
CQ HealthBeat: Analysis: Obama Adopts Rope-A-Dope Strategy Around Health Care Entitlements
The strategy revealed by President Obama's deficit reduction plan Monday appears to be one of letting health care entitlement programs take some hits and sustain some damage — in hopes he can ultimately keep them going without drastic changes. If things go Obama’s way, Republicans will mount all-out attacks on Medicare, Medicaid, and the health care law in the coming months, deriding the president all the while for doing too little in his deficit reduction plan to curb spending to deal with the debt crisis (Reichard, 9/19).
Politico: Obama Links Entitlement Cuts To Tax Changes
President Barack Obama on Monday released a $3 trillion deficit plan that includes $320 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts and dramatic changes in health policy. But Obama in his Rose Garden speech made clear that his commitment to an array of structural changes to health care entitlement programs is contingent on Republican willingness to impose taxes on the wealthy and on corporations. "We are not going to have a one-sided deal that hurts the folks who are most vulnerable," he said. "We will reform Medicare and Medicaid but we will not abandon the fundamental commitment that this country has kept for generations," (Haberkorn, 9/19).
The Hill: Liberals Pan Benefit Cuts In Obama Plan
Liberals on and off Capitol Hill are hammering President Obama's proposal to scale back Medicare and Medicaid benefits as part of his newly released strategy to cut deficit spending. While the liberals are praising many elements of the president's plan – particularly the tax hikes for the wealthiest Americans – they're already vowing to fight provisions to push additional costs on seniors and other beneficiaries of the nation's popular health care entitlements (Lillis, 9/19).
MEDICARE
MedPAC Offers Possible Offsets For Medicare Physician Pay Fix
Still, Obama's deficit-reduction plan, released yesterday, includes no funding for the doc fix. Some are eyeing a Medicaid adjustment that will garner $13 billion in savings as a possible source of money - but competition is stiff for these funds.
CQ HealthBeat: MedPAC Unveils Offset List
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission on Monday released a draft list of proposals it says could be used to offset the cost of overhauling the Medicare physician payment formula. The offsets are divided into two categories: $50 billion in savings would come from proposals that have been recommended by the commission in previous reports or comments letters, and $180 billion would come from suggestions by such outside groups as the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Inspector General and the Congressional Budget Office (Reichard, 9/19).
Politico Pro: Obama Plan Has No Funding For 'Doc Fix'
President Barack Obama's new deficit plan assumes that Washington will not allow the more than 30 percent pay cut to Medicare providers to take effect — but it also assumes that a permanent "doc fix" will add to the deficit because Congress won't pay for it. In earlier budget negotiations, Democrats and doctors had pushed for a permanent elimination of the Sustainable Growth Rate payment formula, which has been on the books since 1997. But the administration does not propose paying for this fix in the deficit plan released Monday. Instead, it adds the cost of paying for the doc fix — which the administration calculates as $293 billion — to the overall deficit (Feder, 9/20).
Politico Pro: Medicaid Fix Is A Pay-For-But Pay For What?
Amid Congress's singular focus on deficit reduction, Sen. Ben Nelson has found about 13 billion reasons to be happy. The centrist Democrat from Nebraska is sitting on a health care bill that has Republican support and is priced to move. It would save about $13 billion over 10 years by fixing a Medicaid formula miscalculation embedded in the health reform law. The bill's bipartisan leanings and generous score make it doubly attractive to lawmakers always on the lookout for "pay-fors" — and there are a lot of things that lawyers and lobbyists would like to pay for, whether it's a highway, the "doc fix" or deficit reduction (Dobias, 9/20).
Big Monthly Premium Hikes Likely Next Year For Medicare Rx Plans
CQ HealthBeat: Study: Expect Big Monthly Premium Hike Next Year In Most Popular Medicare Rx Plans
Although monthly premiums will go down next year for Medicare prescription drug coverage on average, seniors in the most popular plans will see sizable jumps — notably a 14 percent hike for the 4.7 million in United Healthcare's plans, a new study says. Its message: You better shop around. "Commercial plans are aggressively positioning to obtain the advantage in Medicare markets, and it will show in 2012 enrollment," said Dan Mendelson, CEO of Avalere Health, which conducted the study. "The reduction in average premiums — resulting from the entrance of new generic drugs, pharmacy cost containment measures, and market competition, will benefit both savvy consumers and the Medicare program" (Reichard, 9/19).
HEALTH REFORM
HHS Publishes Guidance For Health Exchange State Partnership Model
Meanwhile, Arizona's efforts to create an exchange are morphing into a political hot potato. Also in the news, WellPoint has purchased its own private exchange to compete with the state-run versions envisioned in the health law.
Modern Healthcare: HHS Issues Further Guidance On Exchanges
HHS on Monday published additional guidance on the state partnership model for health insurance exchanges that the agency outlined in a proposed rule earlier this summer. The model is intended to give the states another option as they establish exchanges that are well-suited to their local market conditions and also help them transition into operating those health care insurance marketplaces (Zigmond, 9/19).
The Associated Press/Arizona Republic: Arizona Health Exchanges Urged By Groups
A state issue stemming from the federal health care overhaul continues to simmer, presenting lawmakers and Gov. Jan Brewer with a political hot potato. ... In the wake of industry efforts to create an Arizona exchange in a fashion to their liking, social service advocates are offering their own wish-list of features that they say would help consumers. Meanwhile, some conservatives are urging the state to refrain from creating an exchange, a step they argue could be seen as endorsing the overhaul (9/19).
Bloomberg: WellPoint Buys Exchange To Compete With Obama's Government Health Markets
WellPoint Inc. (WLP), the largest insurer by enrollment, is buying a private health-insurance exchange to compete for employers with the U.S. state-run marketplaces set to open in 2014 under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. WellPoint and two nonprofit health insurers purchased a 78 percent stake today in Bloom Health, a closely held benefits company in Minneapolis, for an undisclosed sum, WellPoint said. Bloom is a two-year-old online marketplace that offers a menu of health plans to about 20,000 workers at almost 50 companies (Wechsler, 9/20).
CAMPAIGN 2012
GOP Presidential Hopeful Rick Perry's Record On Women's Health Scrutinized
As the GOP presidential primary campaign continues to heat up, news outlets focus on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's state policy record: An NPR report today examines his funding for women's health. Meanwhile, Michele Bachmann offers her take on employer-sponsored health insurance.
NPR: Gov. Perry Cut Funds For Women In Texas
Only 48 percent of Texans have private health insurance and more than a quarter of the state's population has no insurance at all, more than any other state. To fill this gap, the state's hospital emergency rooms and dozens of women's health clinics have stepped in to serve the uninsured across Texas. To understand the health care landscape in Texas it helps to start with context, and perhaps nobody is better suited to explain it than Tom Banning. He is the CEO of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians, a group of about 6,000 doctors and whose members reach into every part of the state (Goodwyn, 9/20).
CBS: Michele Bachmann Says Tax Breaks Should Replace Employer Health Plans
Back in her hometown Monday, Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann waxed nostalgic for an era when people were responsible for purchasing their own insurance, rather than being tethered to an employer for coverage. "When I grew up here in Iowa, we owned our own health insurance. We didn't necessarily have it from our employer," she said. Asked in a round-table with workers at OMJC Signal, a family-owned public-safety equipment manufacturer, how small businesses can afford health care for their employees, the Minnesota congresswoman said they shouldn't have to buy it. "I think you should be able to own your plan, so your employer doesn't own it — you get to own it, and you buy it with your own tax-free money," Bachmann responded. She added, "You should be able to set aside whatever amount of your income you need to purchase the kind of health care you need for yourself, for your family," (Huisenga, 9/19).
Finally, the HPV controversy continues —
The Associated Press: Bachmann Says Vaccine Retardation Claim Not Hers
Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said Monday she was not arguing that a vaccine intended to prevent cervical cancer caused mental retardation when she repeated the scientifically unfounded claim last week. The Minnesota congresswoman said she was relaying what a distraught woman told her after a GOP presidential debate in Florida in which Bachmann criticized rival Rick Perry for ordering the vaccine in Texas (Beaumont, 9/19).
NPR: HPV Vaccine: The Science Behind The Controversy
Many find the public health case for HPV vaccination compelling. Cervical cancer strikes about 12,000 U.S. women a year and kills around 4,000. Strong backers of the vaccine include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The vaccine requires three shots over six months and costs upwards of $400, which is not always covered by insurers or government agencies (Knox, 9/19).
HEALTH CARE MARKETPLACE
Insurers Agree To Supply Health Claims Data To New Academic Institute
This agreement, which The New York Times described as "unusual," will create a database for research on health care costs and utilization, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The New York Times: 4 Insurers Will Supply Health Data
Several major health insurers have agreed to provide their claims data on a regular basis to academic researchers, in an unusual agreement that they say will open a window onto the rising costs of health care (Abelson, 9/19).
The Wall Street Journal: Health Insurers Will Give Claims Data to Institute
Several major health insurers say they will provide information on billions of medical-billing claims in their books to a new academic institute, which will create a database for research on health care costs and utilization (Mathews, 9/19).
PUBLIC HEALTH & EDUCATION
New Organ Donation Rules Under Consideration
The Washington Post: Changes In Controversial Organ Donation Method Stir Fears
Surgeons retrieving organs for transplant just after a donor's heart stops beating would no longer have to wait at least two minutes to be sure the heart doesn't spontaneously start beating again under new rules being considered by the group that coordinates organ allocation in the United States (Stein, 9/19).
STATE WATCH
Kansas Medicaid 'Imperiled,' Says Lt. Governor
Meanwhile, an audit finds La. Medicaid providers received improper payments; Texas pharmacists are lining up against the state's push to put more people in Medicaid managed care; and payment arrangements for Connecticut's Medicaid medical homes programs are drawing debate.
The Wichita Eagle: Without Big Changes, Medicaid Is Imperiled, Kansas Lieutenant Governor Says
Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer on Monday described a bleak future for Kansas' Medicaid program unless reforms drive down costs and people begin making healthier lifestyle choices. ... Colyer said Medicaid, the health program for low-income residents, should do what some insurance companies do and reward patients who quit smoking, work their way out of obesity and take their medicine. And the 40-year-old program should work to transition users to private health insurance. "This (Medicaid) is the most complex thing I've seen in government," he said. "And we aren't going to fix it in one year" (Wistrom, 9/19).
Times-Picayune: Audit Finds Millions In Improper Payments By Louisiana For Medicaid Providers
From 2005 to 2010, Louisiana's health agency paid more than $4.32 million in improper claims by Medicaid vendors who provide in-home and community-based care to elderly and disabled patients, according to a new state audit. ... The audit reviewed billing activity in three service areas: the Long-Term Personal Care Services Program; the Elderly and Disabled adults waiver program; and the New Opportunities waiver program (Barrow, 9/19).
The Dallas Morning News: Pharmacies Blast Texas' Push For More Medicaid Managed Care
A pharmacists' advocacy group said Monday that Texas' request to put many, many more Medicaid recipients into privately run managed care plans, such as health maintenance organizations, "will devastate pharmacies in the state." Tammy Gray, a Buda pharmacist and spokeswoman for a group called Pharmacy Choice and Access Now, said Texas wants to save more than $400 million on Medicaid over the next two years, by placing more recipients on managed care plans, but it will do very bad things (Garrett, 9/19).
The Connecticut Mirror: State, Advocates Differ On Payment Plan For Medical Homes
As state officials prepare to expand the use of so-called "medical homes" to care for Medicaid patients, consumer advocates who have long supported the change are raising concerns about the program's design. Medical homes are practices in which doctors and other health care providers play a more active role in monitoring patients' health. ... Much of the extra work involved isn't typically billable (Levin Becker, 9/20).
State Roundup: Brownback Blasted For Rejecting Federal Grant
News outlets report on a variety of health policy topics in the states.
iWatch News: State Attorneys General Not Leaping To Embrace HIPAA Enforcement
Only two state attorneys general have pursued the authority Congress gave them two years ago to prosecute privacy and security breaches of health information — despite training from federal agencies and a consensus among privacy groups that enforcement needs to improve. ... The expansion of jurisdiction to state attorneys general was awarded in concert with a $27 billion stimulus program initiated in 2009 to reward health care providers for switching from print to computerized health records (Leonard, 9/20).
Los Angeles Times: Needle Exchange Proudly Flouts The Law
In an isolated Fresno cul-de-sac on a recent Saturday afternoon, Dr. Marc Lasher and a small band of volunteers were collecting dirty needles, doling out clean ones and providing medical care for addicts from a yellow school bus. But they were breaking the law (Marcum, 9/19).
The Wichita Eagle: Brownback Under Fire For Rejecting Health Care Grant
Gov. Sam Brownback has come under fire from Democrats and some Republicans ever since his administration rejected a $31.5 million federal "early innovator" grant for health care reform that it had earlier voiced support for. A woman from Wichita submitted a petition last week with more than 3,000 signatures protesting rejection of the grant. Like other petitions, it will be analyzed to see if those signing are Kansans. Then a report about the petition and its signers will be forwarded to the governor and his constituent services staff will prepare a response. Brownback's administration has said there were too many strings attached to the grant, which was supposed to fund the creation and implementation of an online health insurance exchange where consumers could compare and purchase policies (Wistrom, 9/20).
The Connecituct Mirror: State Medical Society, Physician Group May Offer Health Insurance
Aiming to provide another insurance option for state residents, the Connecticut State Medical Society and its network of physician practices have created a nonprofit organization that they hope will be able to offer health insurance to individuals and small businesses as part of federal health reform. ... the federal health reform law allows--and provides funding for--nonprofit, member-run health insurers known as Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans, or CO-OPs, to do so too (Levin Becker, 9/19).
California Healthline: Federal MSSP Waiver Expansion Cut From Transition Plan
In its transition plan for eliminating the adult day health care benefit, the California Department of Health Care Services had been planning to expand the Multipurpose Senior Services Program, a federal waiver program aimed primarily at case management. The state planned to expand that program by 1,000 slots. Yesterday it abandoned that idea in part because of the long waiting list that currently exists within that program (Gorn, 9/20).
The Sacramento Bee: Thousands Of Nurses To Strike At Kaiser, Sutter Hospitals Thursday
Thousands of nurses at more than 30 Sutter Health and Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California will walk off the job Thursday in what union officials say will be the nation's largest-ever nurses' strike. … The massive one-day strike, engineered by the CNA – part of the National Nurses United superunion – and the smaller National Union of Healthcare Workers, comes as Sacramento-based Sutter Health is seeking concessions from registered nurses at its Bay Area hospitals. The concessions include sharp hikes in health premium and retirement contributions and elimination of paid sick leave and the ability to advocate for patients (Smith and Reese, 9/20).
HealthyCal: Californians Knows They Need Long-Term Care Coverage, But Don't Buy It
For the second time in as many months, a survey of Californians has found they are more aware than ever of the potential need for long-term health care in the future. But, paradoxically, fewer are taking steps to prepare for that costly possibility. ... The newest poll also found that only 6 percent of those queried believe state programs will cover their long-term care needs – a nearly 400 percent decline since the 1994 survey (Sample, 9/20).
The Miami Herald: Lawmakers: Regulators Need To Crack Down On Assisted Living Facilities
With Florida's elderly population expected to boom in the next two decades, state regulators must crack down on rogue assisted living facilities by shutting down homes where residents die from abuse, slapping harsher fines on places that repeatedly break the law, and boosting the qualifications of people who run (assisted living facilities), a legislative study says. A report released by the state Senate calls for sweeping changes in oversight of (the institutions), asking lawmakers to improve a state system that's woefully underfunded, allows caregivers to work with "inadequate training" and relies on "deficient"’ enforcement to protect thousands of frail residents (Sallah and Miller, 9/19).
The Boston Globe: Advocates, Doctors Split On HIV-Test Bill
A proposal to change how people give consent for HIV tests has divided AIDS advocacy groups in Massachusetts and upset major medical organizations, stymieing legislators trying to bring the state into compliance with federal recommendations aimed at promoting more testing. At issue is a bill that would drop Massachusetts' requirement for specific written patient consent before a doctor tests for the AIDS virus - something 48 other states have done - and replace that with verbal consent. The measure would also require the physician (to) note in the medical record the patient’s decision (Lazar, 9/20).
EDITORIALS AND OPINIONS
Viewpoints: Mixing Politics And Deficit Cutting; Transparency In Health Care; Doctors' Salaries
The New York Times: A Call For Fairness
On the spending side, the president’s plan takes a sensible approach toward saving money in Medicare and Medicaid. More than 90 percent of the $248 billion in Medicare cuts over 10 years would come from reducing payments to drug companies and health care providers that are unnecessarily high (9/19).
The Washington Post: In Debt Plan, Mr. Obama Goes 'Medium'
The other essential element of credible debt reduction is tackling the biggest driver of long-term deficits — federal health spending, particularly Medicare. Here Mr. Obama backed away from some of the entitlement reforms he entertained in his closed-door discussions with House Speaker John Boehner, including raising the eligibility age for Medicare (9/19).
USA Today: Editorial: Politics Takes Priority In Obama's Deficit Plan
The administration hopes money-saving pilot projects in the health reform law will eventually control costs. If that's not enough, Obama's new plan proposes to cap Medicare costs at half a percent above the rate of economic growth. But the plan would save just 3.8% of the $6.5 trillion Medicare is expected to spend over the next decade (9/19).
USA Today: Other Views: From John Boehner, Nancy LeaMond, May MacGuineas, Daniel Mintz and Emily Goff (9/19).
Minneapolis Star Tribune: Medicare, Medicaid And Obama
The changes outlined by Obama Monday will bend the cost curve somewhat — and will come on top of other savings projected from the federal health reform law — but they won’t be enough to put [Medicare and Medicaid] on the path to sustainability (Jill Burcum, 9/19).
The Wall Street Journal: More Transparency, Better Health Care
As the debate over how best to reform our wasteful health-care system continues, there is one measure we can implement immediately to improve quality and rein in runaway costs—the public release of data from the Medicare program, as required by a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The need for change is striking (George Shultz, Arnold Milstein and Robert Krughoff, 9/20).
St. Louis Post-Dispatch/McClatchy: U.S. Doctors Earn Much More Than Their European Counterparts
The American health care system is a sprawling behemoth with an almost infinite number of moving parts. Controlling its costs is the key to the future of the American economy. ... An article published in 2003 in Health Affairs still rings true. The title: "It's the Prices, Stupid: Why the United States is So Different From Other Countries" (9/19).
Georgia Health News: Most Doctors Have Lost Faith In AMA
Many physicians also question the AMA’s commitment to its doctors because it has failed to weigh in on legal challenges to the health reform law. It is not in favor of repeal but often cites the "good parts of the law." And months continue to go by without action on tort reform. Doctors feel that the AMA is looking out for itself, and not for its constituents (Dr. Hal Scherz, 9/19).
Des Moines Register: Bachmann's Vaccine Comment Can Harm The Public
There is no scientific evidence to back up such a claim about a vaccine for the human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer. Side effects are rare and usually minor. But more troubling is that she repeated on national television what an unidentified woman told her about the vaccine. She presented it as true (9/20).
Los Angeles Times: Using Plastic To Pay Anthem Bill? Prepare To Lose Your Coverage
Notice of cancellation was a shock to one policyholder who had been making automatic payments with her credit card. It's just one case involving a policy switch at the health insurer (David Lazarus, 9/20).
San Francisco Chronicle: Which Bills Should Gov. Jerry Brown Veto?
[H]ere are two worth signing: Epilepsy (SB161): Allows schools to train non-medical-school employees to volunteer to administer antiseizure medication to students with epilepsy. Sterile needles (SB41): Allows (not requires) cities and counties to allow pharmacists to sell an adult customer up to 30 hypodermic needles per month without prescription, a critical tool in reducing the spread of the AIDS virus (9/20).
KQED: Government Lifeline
I'll be gauche and tell you what I was paying by 2010: $765.50 every month. But again, my government came to my rescue. I had just moved back to San Francisco from the Peninsula and became aware of the city's Healthy San Francisco Program (Bola Odulate, 9/19).
Minneapolis Star Tribune: Home Health Care In Minnesota Is Solid
A recent article ("Top marks for state in elderly care," Sept. 8) gave mixed reviews to Minnesota's home health industry. It listed some quality measures that seem to indicate that home care in Minnesota is below the national averages, but omitted those that show the state equal to or outpacing national averages (Elizabeth Sowden, 9/19).
EDITOR:
Stephanie Stapleton
WRITERS:
Jennifer Evans
Jenny Gold
Jessica Marcy
Andrew Villegas
Christopher Weaver
The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published by Kaiser Health News, an operating program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. (c) 2011 Kaiser Health News. All rights reserved.
This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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