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Posted on July 1, 2011 12:42
Categories: Financing News Pulse
Topics: Financing News Pulse- National Edition
Download the Pulse here: WeeklyFinancingNewsPulseNationalEditionfinal20110701.pdf (PDF | 232.53 kb)
In this edition:
National News
- Federal Appeals Court Upholds Health
Care Reform Law
- CMS Announces Medicare Part D Savings
and Preventive Care Accomplishments Under Health Reform
- Obama Administration Backs Increased
Health Care Tax Credit
Studies Released
- NIHCM Foundation Finds 5 Percent of
Patients Account for 48 Percent of Health Care Spending
- NGA and NABO Report 33 States Plan to
Cut Medicaid Provider Rates
- Families USA Finds House Medicaid Cuts
Would Harm State Economics
- IOM Suggests Governments Review and
Revise Public Health Laws
- AIM Study Finds
Doctors Increasingly Declining Privately Insured Patients
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition
July 1
, 2011
7/1/11
1
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition
National News
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Health Care Reform Law
CMS
Announces
Medicare Part D Savings and Preventive Care Accomplishments
Under Health Reform
Obama Administration Backs Increased Health Care
Tax Credit
Studies Released
NIHCM Foundation
Finds 5 Percent of Patients Account for 48 Percent
of Health Care
Spending
NGA and N
ABO
Report
33 States Plan to Cut Medicaid Provider Rates
Families USA Finds
House Medicaid Cuts Would Harm State Economics
IOM
Suggests Governments Review and Revise Public Health Laws
AIM
Study Finds Doctors Increasingly Declining Privately Insured Patients
Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing
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For questions or comments, please contact
Rasheda Parks
( Rasheda.Parks@samhsa.hhs.gov ).
SAMHSA222s Financing News Pulse is a news consolidation service, designed to provide readers with streamlined
access to information published by local, regional, and national media.
While the News Pulse attempts to verify
our content, the editors of each publication cited in the summaries are ultimately responsible for the accuracy of
the information they publish. We encourage readers to inform the News Pulse of any errors so we can note them
in future editions; however, we also suggest that they contact the media source directly.
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition
July 1
, 2011
7/1/11
2
National News
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Health Care Reform Law:
On June 29, the 6th
U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals
upheld
U.S. District Court Judge George Caram Steeh222s October 8
ruling
in the Thomas More
Law Center222s lawsuit challenging the national health care reform
law
. By a two
-
to
-
one majority, the
court found that
the law222s
individual mandate is constitutional because
the provision regulates
activity
that
Congress
223
has a rational basis
to believe has substantial effects on interstate commerce224 and is
vital
to
reforming the interstate health care market
.
The Cincinnati court222s ruling is the first of three opinions
expec
ted
by separate courts of appeal that heard oral arguments in the past
two months
. The 4th
Circuit
in Richmond and the 11th
Circuit in Atlanta are expected to rule
on their cases soon
( New York Times, 6/29 ; Los Angeles Times, 6/30 ; Kaiser Health News, 6/29 ; Kaiser Health News, 6/30 ).
CMS
Announces
Medicare Part D Savings and Preventive Care Accomplishments
Under
Health Reform
:
On June 28, t
he
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS)
announced that
Medicare
Prescription Drug Benefit
Program (Part D) beneficiaries
have saved a combined $260 million
through changes to the prescription drug coverage 223doughnut hole224 under health care reform.
Between
January 1
and May 31
,
the prescription drug discounts affected
nearly 500,000 beneficiaries,
reducing their out
-
of
-
poc
ket (OOP)
drug
expenses.
CMS also released data
outlining
Part D savings
by
state
( The Hill, 6/28 ; Kaiser Health News,
6/29 )
.
In related news, CMS reported
that more than
5.5
million Medicare
beneficiaries have received preventative care with
out
incurring
OOP
costs
. Since
January 1, health care reform has prevented Medicare from charging OOP costs for certain
preventive
services
that
receive high ratings
from the U.S.
Preventive Services Task Force, including tobacco
cessation counseling ( AMA News, 6/30 )
.
Obama Administration Backs Increased Health Care
Tax Credit
:
On June 28, the Obama
Administra
tion
announced support for a temporary increase in federal health care subsidies
for
individuals that are laid off because of foreign competition
or lose benefits because of failed pension
plans. Instituted in 2002,
the Health Coverage Tax Credit established
a
federal tax credit that pays up to
65 percent of an individual222s health insurance premium
from qualified plans.
In
2009, the
American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA) raised the credit to 80 percent. Congress
extended the 80
percent rate
through February 13, 2011 but failed to reach an agreement on another extension, allowing
the credit to return to its original 65 percent level
. The Obama Administration now
says
that
it supports
raising the credit to 72.5 percent
through
December 31, 2013, when key
health reform provisions will
t
ake effect. Senate
Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus
(D
-
MT) also supports the measure
( Modern Healthcare, 6/29 ; Kaiser H
ealth News, 6/
29 ).
Studies Released
NIHCM
Foundation
Finds 5 Percent of Patients Account for 48 Percent
of H
ealth Care
Spending:
On June 2
4
,
the
non-
profit
National Institute for Health Care Management
(NIHCM)
Foundation
released a data brief, Understanding U.S. Health Care Spending ,
analyzing
total U.S. health
care spending. Examining
data from the
National Health Expenditure Accounts
(NHEAs) and the
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
(MEPS), the brief notes
that annual health care spending reached
$2.5 trillion in 2009, or 17.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The brief also notes that
spending increased 29 percent between 2005 and 2009, averaging $8,100 per p
erson
in 2009
. The
Foundation
found that costs are highly concentrated among a small number of high
-
cost patients, with
approximately 5 percent of the population accounting for 47.5
percent of all spending, while 50 percent
of the population accounts for only 3 percent of spending. T
he brief also notes that rising prices have
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition
July 1
, 2011
7/1/11
3
played a larger role than increased utilization rates in driving recent cost growth ( Kaiser Health News, 6/28 ; the National Journal, 6/
27 ; NIHCM Foundation, 6/24 ).
NGA and N
ABO
Report
33 States Plan to Cut Medicaid Provider Rates
:
The
National Governors
Association
(NGA) and the
National Association of State Budget Officers (NABO) released the Spring 2011 Fiscal Survey of States , finding that at least 33 states have plans to reduce
Medicaid provider
reimbursement rates
for the
fiscal year beginning July 1. Facing tough financial climates and the
elimination the increased Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funding through the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA),
on average,
governor222s proposed FY2012 budgets
include a 2.9
percent
reduction in Medicaid funding. However, states222
share of Medicaid is expected to increase by
18.6 percent as federal funding drops by 13 percent
. In FY2010, Medicaid accounted for an estimated
22 percent of states222
spending
( Stateline, 6/27 ; Kaiser Health News, 6/27 ; Reuters, 6/30 ).
Families USA Finds House Medicaid Cuts Would Harm State Economics
:
On June 29, Families
USA
released a report
examining Medicaid cuts outlined under U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan222s
(R-
WI) $3.5 trillion
FY2012 budget
proposal, approved by the U.S. House
on April 15
.
In addition to repealing most
provisions of the national health care reform law
,
t
he budget would also convert Medicaid into a block
grant program beginning in 2013
, reducing state payments by 5 percent in 2013, 15 percent in 2014, and
33 percent in 2021. Based on an economic modeling tool used by the U.S. Department of Commerce
to
assess the impact of major events on regional economies, Families USA
222s analysis
finds that the
Medicaid cu
ts would risk a total of 35,210 jobs and $4.2 billion in economic activity. The report
estimates that the cuts would harm program enrollees, reduc
e b
usiness
activity
, and contribute
to job
losses.
The report also
provides state
-
level estimates
of the impact
of each cut on business activity and
jobs ( Families USA, 6/29 ; Salt Lake Tribune, 6/30 ).
IO
M
Suggests Governments Review and Revise Public Health Laws
:
On June 21, the
Institute of
Medicine
(IOM) released
a report ,
suggesting that federal and state governments review and revise
public health laws to ensure that they adequately address the current health care landscape. Created at
the request of the
Robe
rt Wood Johnson Foundation
(RWJF)
and presenting the findings of a
committee of experts
,
the report also stress
es
the importance of evaluating the effects of non
-
health
care legislation, noting that such legislation can have a significant impact on public health. Finally, the
report recommends that states require health agencies to require 10 essential public health services
( The National Academies, 6/21 ; Kaiser Health News, 6/24 ).
A
IM
Study Finds Doctors Increasingly Declining Privately Insured Patients:
A study
published
in
the
Archives of Internal Medicine found
that
88 percent of
physicians accepted new privately insured
patients
in 2008, down from 93 percent in 2005. The
authors cite
d
low reimbursement rates and
significant
administrative
burdens as possible reasons for the decline. The study also notes that
rate of
acceptance declined less
for
Medicare beneficiaries, dropping from 96 to 93 percent between 2005 and
2008 ( Bloomberg, 6/27 ; NPR, 6
/27 ; Kaiser Health News, 6/28 )
.
Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health: Prescription Drug Use
r Fee Act Reauthorization
July 7, 10:00 a.m. 2123 Rayburn
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition
July 1
, 2011
7/1/11
4
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee: Aid to Children222s Hospitals; Autism;
Workforce Investment
July 13, 10:00 a.m. TBA
House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health:
Impact of IPAB on Medicare
July 13, 9:00 a.m. 2123 Rayburn
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies:
Fiscal 2012 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
July 26, Time TBA. 2358-C Rayburn
House Ap
propriations Committee: Fiscal 2012 Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
August 2, Time TBA. 2359 Rayburn
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