- Joined
- Feb 13, 2008
- Messages
- 545
- Reaction score
- 9
The Bill:
http://www.senate.gov/~finance/press/Bpress/2008press/prb060608a.pdf
Story on the Wall Street Journal Health Care Blog:
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/06/06/sen-baucus-would-pay-docs-more-private-medicare-plans-less/
Sen. Baucus Would Pay Docs More, Private Medicare Plans Less
Posted by Anna Wilde Mathews
Washington health-care lobbyists may be in for some déjà vu as a long-running partisan clash over Medicare Advantage, the controversial private health insurance option for seniors, bubbles up again in legislation to reform Medicare.
Sen. Max Baucus has a plan for Medicare reform (AP Photo)
Today, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat, introduced a Medicare bill aimed at avoiding a scheduled 10.6% dropoff in Medicare physician fees set to hit July 1. (You can read a summary of the bill by clicking on the PDF icon on the right.)
The bill hewed pretty closely to the expectations of the lobbyocracy, as well as to a partial outline floated to doctor groups earlier. Besides an increase in physician fees, there are some nice bon bons for others, including rural care providers, clinical labs and community health centers. The legislation would also cut beneficiaries co-payments on mental health services. And as we described earlier this week, there are also provisions encouraging doctors to prescribe medicines electronically.
But the bill would also trim the sails of some Medicare Advantage plans. It would phase out extra payments to Medicare Advantage plans for indirect medical education at teaching hospitals. It also dings the private fee-for-service plans by forcing them to create approved networks of health-care providers.
Medicare Advantage is a target for Democrats, who often focus on concerns that it costs the government more per beneficiary than traditional Medicare. Republicans, on the other hand, tend to defend the private plans. At the end of 2007, about 20% of Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.
As usual, the Medicare Advantage proposals are likely to be a rub with Republicans. The Baucus bill probably cant get through the Senate in its current form, and the Bush Administration has already served notice of its intent to defend the Medicare Advantage plans through a veto if necessary. A Republican bill from Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa is expected next week
http://www.senate.gov/~finance/press/Bpress/2008press/prb060608a.pdf
Story on the Wall Street Journal Health Care Blog:
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/06/06/sen-baucus-would-pay-docs-more-private-medicare-plans-less/
Sen. Baucus Would Pay Docs More, Private Medicare Plans Less
Posted by Anna Wilde Mathews
Washington health-care lobbyists may be in for some déjà vu as a long-running partisan clash over Medicare Advantage, the controversial private health insurance option for seniors, bubbles up again in legislation to reform Medicare.
Sen. Max Baucus has a plan for Medicare reform (AP Photo)
Today, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat, introduced a Medicare bill aimed at avoiding a scheduled 10.6% dropoff in Medicare physician fees set to hit July 1. (You can read a summary of the bill by clicking on the PDF icon on the right.)The bill hewed pretty closely to the expectations of the lobbyocracy, as well as to a partial outline floated to doctor groups earlier. Besides an increase in physician fees, there are some nice bon bons for others, including rural care providers, clinical labs and community health centers. The legislation would also cut beneficiaries co-payments on mental health services. And as we described earlier this week, there are also provisions encouraging doctors to prescribe medicines electronically.
But the bill would also trim the sails of some Medicare Advantage plans. It would phase out extra payments to Medicare Advantage plans for indirect medical education at teaching hospitals. It also dings the private fee-for-service plans by forcing them to create approved networks of health-care providers.
Medicare Advantage is a target for Democrats, who often focus on concerns that it costs the government more per beneficiary than traditional Medicare. Republicans, on the other hand, tend to defend the private plans. At the end of 2007, about 20% of Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans.
As usual, the Medicare Advantage proposals are likely to be a rub with Republicans. The Baucus bill probably cant get through the Senate in its current form, and the Bush Administration has already served notice of its intent to defend the Medicare Advantage plans through a veto if necessary. A Republican bill from Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa is expected next week
