The American Medical Association is urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) not to implement a voluntary reporting program that would measure quality care starting in January. In a Nov. 3 letter to CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, the powerful physician group's Board of Trustees said the program would impose "excessive administrative requirements" on physicians and "negate any intended quality improvement." Read more »
Medicare beneficiaries trying to find their way through the new Medicare drug benefit may find the task a bit easier after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled new features on an agency Web site. The Medicare Prescription Plan Drug Finder now allows beneficiaries to compare drug plan features, such as a plan's annual cost, deductibles, premiums, and copayments, for a specific list of drugs. Such a direct, "apples-to-apples" comparison had not been available before. Read more »
After a fruitless day of arm-twisting, GOP leaders gave up at least temporarily on their effort to push a $50 billion, five-year budget savings bill (HR 4241) through the House. Although the leaders expressed confidence that they had made enough changes to bring their moderates on board and pass the bill, they clearly miscalculated. Steps taken to appease the moderates angered other Republicans, and not all moderates were won over in any case. Read more »
Just days before seniors can begin to enroll in the Medicare drug benefit, a survey found that many beneficiaries do not understand the benefit and do not know whether they will sign up for the coverage, which begins Jan. 1. The survey, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, found that more than six in 10 seniors either do not understand the drug benefit at all or feel they do not know it very well. More than a third of seniors surveyed said they do not plan to enroll in the Medicare drug benefit, while 43 percent have not yet decided. Read more »
Some of the neediest and sickest people in Medicare already have prescription drug coverage—though Medicaid. So one of the big challenges facing federal officials in implementing the new Medicare drug benefit is to ensure the six million "dual eligibles" don't fall between the cracks when they switch from Medicaid to Medicare drug coverage on Jan. 1. In a speech to state Medicaid directors, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mark B. McClellan announced new steps officials are taking to lessen the odds of that happening. But not everyone is satisfied that the changeover will work well. Read more »