Lawmakers on a House health subcommittee heard suggestions on overhauling Medicare's physician payment system, but some seemed unimpressed by the panel's advice. Frustrations aside, House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., made clear that an overhaul of the formula was a priority in the 110th Congress, and the sooner the better. Read more »
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said he will seek $50 billion in new funding over the next five years as part of reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Read more »
Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has introduced legislation he said would "fix glitches" with laws regarding Medicaid eligibility for newborns. Grassley said that procedure implementations required by last year's budget savings bill have "erroneously inhibited" access to Medicaid for some newborns. Grassley said the provisions in question were intended to prevent ineligible adults from obtaining Medicaid coverage. Read more »
As Democrats consider reducing Medicare payments to private health plans as a way to finance other spending priorities, the ranking Republican on the Ways and Means Committee warned that those cuts could hurt poor and minority beneficiaries. Read more »
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced that the House budget resolution will include a reserve fund to cover all children who are eligible for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a step that if approved by Congress would lower the number of uninsured children by "millions" over the next five years. Read more »
Members of the House Ways and Means Committee began probing Medicare's dark corners, seeking areas for oversight in the program's annual spending of approximately $400 billion. At the joint hearing of the Oversight and Health subcommittees, members estimated that as much as half of the $10.8 billion in Medicare overpayments in 2006 resulted from fraud. Read more »