OVERNIGHT HEALTH: Shutdown riding on riders?

by Healthwatch staff - 04/07/11 10:10 PM ET

Single-payer advocates question Vermont reform: Single-payer advocates say Vermont’s proposed healthcare reform, which is being billed as a single-payer system, falls short of that goal. The Physicians for a National Health Program criticized the plan for keeping a role for private insurers. “This would negate many of the administrative savings that could be attained by a true single-payer program,” the group said. Read the Healthwatch story.

Rules delays abortion action: In light of ongoing budget negotiations, the House Rules Committee postponed a markup of H.R. 3, which would end tax breaks for insurance plans that cover abortion. It had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon, and the committee did not announce a new mark-up date.

The high cost of apathy: An annual survey on drug price trends suggests the United States wastes $134 billion on medications every year because patients don’t follow up on their intentions to take their meds or switch to generics. Healthwatch’s Julian Pecquet has the story and the report.

Brokers fight for survival: The trade association representing health insurance agents and brokers has hired Ernst and Young to lobby on its behalf. The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) has long had an in-house lobbying arm, but it’s now hiring the big guns to build support for legislation protecting their commissions in the medical-loss ratio provision of Democrats’ healthcare reform law.

Make brain injury coverage mandatory, Giffords’s office says: The office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) wants the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to require insurers offering healthcare plans on state-run health insurance exchanges to cover traumatic brain injury (TBI) as part of an essential health benefits package. Read the Healthwatch story.

NIH claims key role in evaluating medical treatments: The National Institutes of Health does much more than the fundamental basic research they’re
famed for, NIH Director Francis Collins said Thursday; in fact, 40
percent of its $31 billion a year budget is dedicated to clinical
research such as the comparative effectiveness research (CER) championed
by the healthcare reform law.

“We are aiming through NIH as part
of our research agenda to assist as much as we can in generating this
evidence base for healthcare,” Collins said in an address at an Atlantic
healthcare forum. “We are committed to continuing to support CER,
working closely with (the reform law’s Patient-Centered Outcomes
Research Institute) and believe that CER can be an effective tool” to
contain healthcare costs and achieve better outcomes.

Ryan budget falls flat at healthcare forum: A panel of healthcare experts at the same forum ripped into Ryan’s proposal to turn Medicare into a voucher-type program:

“It’s a long way between cutting the contribution [from the government] and cutting costs,” said Chet Burrell, president and CEO of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield. “We see underlying costs rising much, much quicker than” Ryan’s proposed contributions in both Medicare and Medicaid.
“It’s a very provocative proposal” said Sherry Glied, assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services. “The savings basically come from (cutting) benefits.”
“A sustainable health system focusing on Medicare is focusing on the right problem. This is not the right solution,” said Institute of Medicine President Harvey Fineberg. “I think it’s incumbent on the Democratic side to come forward with solutions that deal with the sustainable part; and it’s incumbent on the Republican side to come forward with solutions that deal with the health part. And then you can have a solution that really is a sustainable health system.”

Friday agenda:

Dental health: The Institute of Medicine is scheduled to provide a blueprint for how HHS can improve the oral health work of its agencies and promote greater public awareness.

MedPAC wraps up: The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) finishes up its two-day meeting with a look at Medicare in rural areas. According to MedPAC’s brief: “Bruce Hamory, former chief medical officer of Geisinger Health System, will discuss how his large system serves rural patients across 40 sites in Pennsylvania. Jim Long, CEO of West River Health Services, a small integrated healthcare provider in Hettinger, ND (a town of 1,300 people) will talk about caring for rural patients in a frontier area with a primary-care-focused delivery system.”

Racial disparities: HHS holds a 10 a.m. briefing at the National Press Club about reducing racial and ethnic health disparities.

Reading list:

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is recommending the government require prior approval for doctors who order lots of imaging tests, Modern Healthcare reports.

The Boston Globe interviews the chief architect of the single-payer system currently being considered in Vermont.

Minnesota lawmakers will vote on deep healthcare cuts, The Associated Press writes.

The nation’s healthcare system is not prepared to cope with a nuclear device attack, ProPublica reports.

A Senate panel questioned the adequacy of the military’s mental healthcare services, the Army Times writes.

Lobbying registrations (since Monday)