- Congressional health program suffers “significant data breach” affecting “hundreds” of lawmakers, staff.
- Bill Frist: the benefit from implementing value-based payment models has been modest, and so far has not resulted in significant savings to payers, providers, or patients. No surprise: they were all designed by the buyers of care – something that happens in no other market.
- “We are now 11 years into the largest epidemic of adolescent mental illness ever recorded.”
- Site neutral payments (independent of hospital, clinic, doctor’s office, etc.) would save Medicare $158 billion over ten years.
- About half of the governmental public health workforce left their jobs between 2017 and 2021.
Category: Medicare
CMS to Make Prior Authorization Quicker, Easier
Prior authorization is a requirement that health insurers use to exercise more control over enrollees’ medical treatments. If a health plan requires prior authorization for a specific service and providers fail to obtain approval, the treatment is not reimbursed. Prior authorization is controversial because doctors and patients often see it as an unnecessary interference between the doctor and patient relationship. Doctors hate the hassle of seeking permission prior to treating their patients. They also dislike so-called bean counters second guessing their treatment choices.
Bidenomics
Casey Mulligan in the Wall Street Journal:
I estimate that Mr. Biden’s insurance, regulatory and tax policies as implemented will eventually combine to reduce the nation’s labor income by 5% to 6.5%, with an additional reduction in the long term due to education policies in blue states. In two years under the Biden administration, the labor market is already falling short. Real employee compensation per adult … is 3.3% below the pre-pandemic trend.
I estimate that degrowth policies since 2020 will cumulatively reduce Medicare and Social Security tax revenue by at least $400 billion—and perhaps as much as $900 billion. The tax base will shrink even more if Mr. Biden succeeds in levying higher wealth and business taxes.
I estimate that … remote-learning policies reduced prospective Medicare and Social Security tax revenue by $118 billion in present value.
How Bobby Jindal and Newt Gingrich Would Save Medicare
- Make payments site neutral – same fee, regardless of where the service is performed (hospital, out-patient clinic, doctor’s office, etc.)
- End Medicare’s bad-debt compensation program that reimburses hospitals for 65% of uncollected patient out-of-pocket costs.
- Get serious about tackling fraud.
- Recognize preventive medicine as a money saver rather than a money spender.