WeeklyFinancingNewsPulseNationalEditionfinal20090918.pdf (PDF | 315.58 kb)
SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition September 18, 2009 9/18/09 1 SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing New Pulse: National Edition National News Sen. Baucus Unveils Health Care Reform Legislation Senator Leahy Introduces Legislation to Subject Health Insurers to Antitrust Laws Congressman Urge FTC to Investigate CVS222 Acquisition of Caremark FDA Approves H1NI Vaccine in Pr eparation for Federal Vaccination Campaign HHS Announces Medicare Medical Home Pilot Program HHS Awards $70.9 Million to Expand Health Insurance in 13 States Polls Find Attitudes Improving but Americans Split on Health Reform JCAHO Proposes SBIRT Accreditation Standards for Hospitals Elsevier Launches New Mental Health Research Site Studies Released Survey Finds Docto rs Favor Public Plan Employer Health Benefits Survey Finds Costs of Employer Health Insurance Continues to Rise Preliminary Survey Results Find Employers Plan to Continue or Expand Health Management Initiative s GAO Report Finds Medicaid Beneficiaries Lack Sufficient Preventative Care, Issues Recommendations SAMHSA Report Finds 8.3 Million Adults Considered Suicide Last Year KFF Finds Reported Approval of Health Coverage May be Deceptive KFF Releases Two Briefs Examining Ways to Expand Access to Home and Community - Based Services Urban Institute Brief Finds MA Health Reform Continues to Cover Uninsured, Remains Popular Commonwealth Fund Report Examines CHIPRA and Issues Recommendations AHIP Study Finds Medicare Advantage Enrollees in CA and NV are Hospitalized Less than FFS Medicare Enrollees Health Affairs Article Argues that the Census Overestimates the Uninsured Health Affairs Article Examines the Potential Effects of a Public Plan on Hospitals and Private Insurers Study Finds Parent222s Lack of Insurance Associated with Reduced Access for Insured Children Study Finds Successful Mental Health Treatment Improves Worker Productivity Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing Be ginning this week, SAMHSA will deliver the Weekly Financing News Pulse as two documents 227 a National edition and a State and Local Edition. This is the first issue of the National edition; SAMHSA will distribute the State and Local edition Wednesdays, beginning September 23. For quest ions or comments, please contact Kevin Hennessey ( kevin.hennessy@samhsa.hhs.gov ). SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition September 18, 2009 9/18/09 2 National News Sen. Baucus Unveils Health Care Reform Legislation : On September 16, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D - MT) unveiled the chairman222s mark of America222s Health Future Act of 2009, the health care reform bill that the bipartisan 223gang of six224 has been negotiating for several m onths. T he bill would provide coverage for 94 percent of the population by 2019 ( AP, 9/16 ; Kaiser Health News, 9/17 ). O ther provisions include: Require all individuals to obtain health coverage, P revent insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals with pre - existing conditions , Create a health insurance exchange and a system of consumer - owned insurance co - ops, E xpand Medicaid to Americans earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), and P rovide government subsidies for individuals earning up to 300 percent of th e FPL to purchase private insurance ( Kaiser Health News, 9/16 ). The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that the bill will cost $776 billion over 10 years and reduce the deficit by $50 billion over the same period. The bill is financed through : $500 billion in cuts to government health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid; $215 billion from an excise tax on high- cost insurance plans; $93.3 billion in fee s from pharmaceutical companies, health insurers, medical device manufacturers, and clinical laboratories; $27 billion in fees from employers whose employees receive government subsidies; $20 billion in fees from individuals who do not obtain coverage; $16.5 billion from limiting flexible spending account (FSA) contributions; and $39 million in other new revenue. Republicans 227 including members of the 223gang of six224 227 and conservative Democrats have criticized the plan for excessive spending while liberal Democrats have criticized the scope of coverage, the exclusion of a public plan option , and the inclusion of malpractice reform ( Kaiser Health News, 9/16 ; Kaiser Health News, 9/16 ). White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called the bill 223an important building block224 and noted that the Obama Administ ration is not worried about the initial lack of GOP support ( Kaiser Health News, 9/17 ). The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to being marking up the bi ll September 22 ( CQ Politics, 9/16 ) and Senate Majority Leader Henry Reid (D - NV) plans to begin the Senate floor debate by September 28 ( Kaiser Health News, 9/16 ). Meanwhile, after praising Senator Baucus222 efforts, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D - CA) said that the House will pass a health care reform bill with a public plan by the end of the year ( CQ Today, 9/17 ). S enator Leahy Introduces Legislation to Subject H ealth Insurers to Antitrust Laws : On September 17, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D - VT) introduced legislation to repeal health and medical malpractice insurers222 exemption from federal antitrust laws. Under the proposed law, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would oversee the health care industry, which Sen. Leahy says would make the industry more competitive. Health insurance companies gained immunity from antitrust laws in 1945 under th e McCarran - Ferguson Act ( CQ Politics, 9/17 ). C ongressman Urge FTC to Investigate CVS222 Acquisition of Caremark : On September 14, eight congressman sent a letter to the FTC urging a reexamination of CVS Corp.222s acquisition of Caremark RX Inc. , which formed CVS Caremark in 2007. In the letter, Reps. Robert Aderholt (R - AL ), John Boozman SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition September 18, 2009 9/18/09 4 that President Obama222s support among the elderly has fallen from 62 percent in June to 39 percent in September. The USA Tod ay poll found that 60 percent of respondents do not believe the plan will accomplish the president222s goals and Bloomberg found that 80 percent of respondents support major components of the plan, including covering the uninsured, creating insurance exchanges, reducing health care costs, and preventing insurers from denying coverage to individuals with chronic illnesses. Finally, a related CBS News follow - up poll re - interviewed respondents first polled in late august, finding similar results in overall approval but also that the president222s speech had only minor effects on Americans222 understanding of his plan. Prior to the speech, 33 percent of responden ts believed that President Obama had clearly explained his plan. T hough that number rose to 42 percent after the speech, 43 percent of respondents still did not believe the president had clearly explained his plans. Importantly, all of the improvement came from respondents who watched the president222s speech, with 58 percent of watchers reporting that the president explained his plans adequately ( Kaiser Health News, 9/14 ; Washington Post, 9/14 ; Kaiser Health News, 9/15 ; USA Today, 9/15 ; Bloomberg, 9/16 ; Kaiser Health News, 9/16 ; CBS News, 9/11 ; CBS News, 9/11 ; Kaiser Health News, 9/11 ). JCAHO Proposes SBIRT Accreditation Standards for Hospitals : The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has proposed a list of new hospital performance measures for screening, brief intervention, referral, and treatment (SBIRT) of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use. The proposal is open for public comment until September 30 and the measures are t hen subject to review by the JCAHO advisory board, pilot testing and analysis, and approval from the National Quality Forum . If approved, the SBIRT measures may become one set of optional information that hospitals may choose to provide in order to meet accreditation standards or they may be included in mandated accreditation standards for the 16,000 health care facilities that JCAHO accredits ( Join Together, 9/11 ). E lsevier Launches New Mental Health Research Site: On September 14, Elsevier launched a new website, Elsevier Mental Health , designed to consolidate all of its mental health information and resources into a single location. The site links to online books, journals 222 top cited and top downloaded articles, alerting services, conferences, topical discussion forums and RSS feeds powered by ScienceDirect and Scopus ( Eureka Alert, 9/14 ). Studies Released Survey Finds Doctors Favor Public Plan : A survey , conducted by researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and published in the New England Journal of Medicine , found that 73 percent of doctors favor public - sponsored health care, with 10 percent favoring a single - payer system and 63 percent favoring a public plan option. The survey, which was conducted between June and September, found support for a public plan among all doctor types, including primary care physicians, specialists, urban and rural doctors, and members of the American Medical Association (AMA) ( Kaiser Health News, 9/15 ; NPR, 9/14 ). E mployer Health Benefits Survey Finds Costs of Employer Health Insurance Continues to Rise: The annual Employer Health Benefits survey , released September 15 by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and the Health Research and Education Trust , found that the average cost of employer - sponsor ed health insurance for a family has increased 5 percent from 2008 to 2009 and 131 percent since 1999 to $13,375 annually. The survey also found that the average deductible for an SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition September 18, 2009 9/18/09 5 individual in a preferred provider organization (PPO) plan rose from $560 last year to $634 this year and that twice as many workers (40 percent) in companies with fewer than 200 employees had deductibles at or over $1,000 in 2009 than did in 2007 ( KFF, 9/15 ; Kaiser Health News, 9/15 ; Kaiser Health News, 9/16 ). Preliminary Survey Results Find Employers Plan to Continue or Expand Health Management Initiatives : Preliminary results of a survey of 400 employers conducted by the non - profit Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI) found that employers plan to increase funding for health and productivity programs, which are designed to encourage healthy lifestyles. The survey found that roughly 5 percent of employers with health and productivity management programs plan to reduce their funding while more than 30 percent of employers with such plans intend to increase funding over the next two years. IBI will release the full survey results later this year ( PR Newswire via Reuters, 9/14 ). G AO Report Finds Medicaid Beneficiaries Lack Sufficient Preventative Care, Issues Recommendations : A report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in August, concluded that preventative care is lacking under state Medicaid programs. The report found that Medicaid - insured children are at special risk for certain health conditions, including obesity, and that an estimated 41 percent of those children did not receive a well-child check up over a two - year period. In addition, the GAO found that preventative care for Medicaid - insured adults varies widely by service and state, with 93 percent of adults receiving blood pressure screening s but only 41 percent potential candidates receiving colorectal screenings. The GAO recommends that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ensure that state222s Early Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) programs are reviewed re gularly and that the agency expedite its efforts to provide guidance to states on obesity - related services for children. The GAO also suggests that CMS provide similar guidance for adult preventative services ( Fierce Health Care, 9/15 ). S AMHSA Report Finds 8.3 Million Adults Considered Suicide Last Year : A report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), developed using data from the 2008 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) (Financing News Pulse 9/14 edition), found that 8.3 million adults (3.7 percent) had serious suicidal thoughts in the past year, 2.3 million (1.0 percent) made a suicide plan, and 1.1 million (0.5 percent) attempted suicide. The study also found that younger adults were more likely to consider suicide that older adults and that only 62.3 percent of those who attempted suicide la st year received medical attention ( AP, 9/17 ; SAMHSA, 9/17 ). KFF F inds R eported Approval of Health Coverage May be Deceptive : A KFF Data Note examines data for KFF222s August tracking poll, finding that, though 73 percent of Americans with insurance rate their coverage as 223excellent224 or 223good,224 significant portions of respondents giving positive ratings report dissatisfaction with certain aspects of care and difficulties paying their medical bills. The poll also found that younger Americans, poorer Americans, and those who report being in poor health are less satisfied with their health care coverage than their counterparts ( KFF, 9/17 ). K FF Releases Two Briefs Examining Ways to Expand Access to Home and Community -Based Services : 223 Advancing Access to Medicaid Home and Community - Based Services: Key Issues Based on a Working Group Discussion with Medicaid Experts 224 highlights strategies to expand acces s to home and community - based services (HCBS). The strategies outlined include increasing federal financing to administer HCBS, simplifying the process for state programs to provide HCBS, expanding eligibility and SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition September 18, 2009 9/18/09 7 influx of new patients. However, the authors note that effect would be reversed if many privately insured individuals enter the public plan, lowering hospital revenues because of lower reimburs ement rates without the corresponding increase in patients. In addition, the authors highlight that a major shift from private to public plans will likely increase private insurance premiums as companies attempt to cover cost ( Kaiser Health News, 9/17 ). S tudy Finds Parent 222 s Lack of Insurance Associated with Reduced Access for Insured Children : A study published in the Annals of Family Medicine found that, while uninsured children had the highest rate of unmet health care needs, insured children with uninsured parents had higher chan ces of going without necessary services than did children with insured parents ( Kaiser Health News, 9/17 ; HealthDay News, 9/16 ). S tudy Finds Successful Mental Health Treatment Improves Worker Productivity : A study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that, though workers undergoing mental health treatment have lo wer productivity than either workers without mental health problems or those not receiving treatment, productivity scores improve to near - normal levels after treatment ( Occupational Health and Safety, 9/12 ). Around the Hill: Hearings on Health Financing Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law : Mental Illness and Prisons September 15, 10:00 a.m., 226 Dirksen House Energy and Commerce Committee: 2009 Pandemic Flu Preparation September 15, 1:00 p.m., 2123 Rayburn House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Domestic Policy: Private Health Insurance Companies September 16, 10:00 a.m., 2154 Rayburn Se ptember 17, 2:00 p.m., 2154 Rayburn House Veterans Affairs Committee: Veterans222 Courts and Legal Programs September 16, 10:00 a.m., 334 Cannon Senate Indian Affairs Committee : Tax Treatment of Tribal Health Care Benefits September 17, 2:15 p.m., 628 Dir ksen Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee : Protecting Against the H1N1 Flu September 21, 10:00 a.m., Hartford, CT Senate Finance Committee: Health Care Revision September 22, 9:00 a.m., 216 Hart House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health: Pharmaceutical Needs of Veterans September 22, 3:00 p.m., 334 Cannon SAMHSA222s Weekly Financing News Pulse: National Edition September 18, 2009 9/18/09 8 House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation: Research and Development of Biologic Drugs September 24, 10:00 a.m., 2318 Rayburn Senate Veterans A ffairs Committee : VA Health Services Contracts September 30, 9:30 a.m., 418 Russell Senate Homeland Security and Government al Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security : Medicaid Substance Abuse TBA, TBA, 342 Dirksen
